Heaven, Hell, or None of the Above
by tanikara kohitsuji
Summary: I just wanted to go out with Itachi Uchiha. And what do I do? I get killed in a hit and run. His brother can see me, a ghost, though. Which gives me an idea... AU SasuSaku minor ItaSaku onesided SasuIno side NaruHina Sakura POV
1. Chapter 1: New Year, Here I Come!

**Chapter 1: New Year, Here I Come!**

I've always been an outsider. From my petal pink hair to my interest in academics, I never fit in with my classmates. While most of my classmates sported black hair, my natural rose hair stuck out like a giant pink sore thumb.

I knew I would never be winning the prize for most popular. If you had asked who Sakura Haruno was, everyone would have said "Who?" Then if you described me, they'd go "Oh! That weird geek."

Yup. That's me. Misfit Sakura.

There's one way I'm just like my peers though. Itachi Uchiha. Resident school hottie. Dark eyes and hair. Athletic. Smart. You name it and Itachi probably has it. Like every other female in Konoha Gakuen, I was drooling over Itachi. He would graduate at the end of this year, and it was my last chance to snag him.

I spent the entire summer preparing. Reading every fashion magazine, working to earn money for make up and hair products. So as I approached the school, I felt good. I was a wannabe no longer. I was embracing my bright hair. My ticket to standing out.

I strutted my way across the parking lot. I was on top of the world. I should've known then that things wouldn't work out. But I, ever the optimist, wanted to believe that this was my time.

I spotted him talking outside the gym entrance. I took a deep breath.

"This is it," I whispered to myself.

"**Hell yeah!" **my Inner shouted. **"Time to snag that yumm-a-licious hunk of manflesh for ourselves!"**

As I angled over toward Itachi, I ignored the group of guys playing around with a soccer ball and focused on my plan. I was to bump into him as I passed him. Look up into those gorgeous coal black eyes and blink. Say "Sorry" in a normal to slightly snotty tone. Make him feel like he deserved to feel horrible. Leave him wondering who that hot, confident chick was.

Just when I was about to initiate step one, the bump, I heard a guy shout "Heads up!" I turned slightly and saw a blur before everything went black.

*~*~*~*~

"Give her some room to breathe," a male voice trickled into my mind.

My eyes fluttered open to Itachi leaning slightly over me. I stared up at him, stunned. Was I asleep?

"You okay?" he asked.

No, not asleep. The pain throbbing through my head is way to real for a dream.

I nodded dumbly.

"All right. How's your head feel?"

I touched my forehead and winced. "What happened?"

"You got hit by a soccer ball."

"Where?" I was going to keep this conversation going. This was my God-sent opportunity to get him interested.

He helped me up. "Your face."

Horror shot through me. Did I have a giant bruise on my slightly larger than average forehead? Or worse, a black eye?

"Is my makeup okay?" I blurt out.

"**What are you, an idiot?!" **my Inner screeched.

But she shut up when Itachi chuckled. I… I made Itachi Uchiha laugh. Me, Sakura Haruno. I could die happy now. Except I wished I could have done it without seeming like a shallow ding-a-ling.

"Good to know you're okay…?" He raised an eyebrow, indicating he needed a name.

"Oh!" I gasped as comprehension dawned. I had to give it to him. "Sakura! I'm Sakura Haruno! First year!"

He smiled a little. "Nice to meet you. I'm—"

"Itachi Uchiha," I finished. "I know. Your brother was in my class three years ago."

"Okay. I'll see you around. And try to avoid soccer balls from now on!" He left then.

*~*~*~*~

"You idiot!" Ino shouted.

I winced. "What? I talked to him!"

"Yeah by getting a giant bruise," my loud blonde friend flicked said bruise.

"Ow!"

"And you then continued to talk about _another _guy, his hunkalicious brother, in front of him." Ino shook her head. "Something you should _never _do."

I hung my head in shame. "I know. But it just popped out."

"And you know that Sasuke's mine!"

"Which is why he has yet to show even the slightest interest in you."

"Just you wait! He will!"

"Have you checked the class lists yet?"

"No. You know we always do it together," Ino replied.

We made our way over to the board. We scanned the first years for our names.

"I'm in class 1 C!" Ino announced joyfully.

"Me too!"

She scanned it for a few more seconds. "Sasuke's in it too!" she squealed.

"Good for you."

"Try to contain your excitement."

"Sorry. I just don't have a crush on Sasuke," I sighed.

"Fine. But you do know hwat this means, right?" Ino probed.

"Umm, no."

"Let me paint you a picture, Sakura." Ino took a deep breath and began to overact. "'Oh no! I'm failing history! Sasuke, do you think you could help me study for the test? I know! Let's make a study group! You, Naruto, Sakura and me.' Then you mysteriously disappear during the studying to talk to Itachi while I get in some flirting with Sasuke."

My mouth became an o. "I see."

"We get to make our moves." Ino paused. "You know hwat this means, right?"

"Um, you lost me again."

"We're going to have to fail history together for a little bit."

*~*~*~*~

"All right, your seating chart is on the board," Kakashi, my homeroom teacher, announced.

I looked at it and my heart sank. Ino was across the room. And I was behind… Sasuke?! I glanced over to see Ino's opinion on my sitting by her crush. She seemed split. She approached Kakashi.

"Excuse me, Hatake-sensei," she smiled once she had his attention. "Is there any chance I could switch seats with someone?"

"No. All seating arrangements are final. Now please go to your seat." He raised his voice. "Once you know where your seat is, please sit down in it. Since it's the first day, I'll have you introduce yourselves. Just to start the relationships."

Ino was the first of the two of us to introduce herself. "Hey. I'm Ino Yamanaka of the Yamanaka Florists. I enjoy flower arranging and shopping in my spare time. I'm a fun girl to be around. Nice to meet you all."

Sasuke's friend Naruto was a few people later. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Don't know who my parents were. And yes, these whisker marks are real. I like to skateboard and show Teme who's boss in my spare time."

I had plenty of time after Naruto to panic over my introduction. And then, horror of all horrors, it was my turn.

"H-hello. I'm Sakura Haruno. I… uh…" Palms sweating so very very badly. "I…" Feeling sick to stomach. I could feel Ino's glare boring into me. I licked my lips nervously.

"**Come on! Spit it out, girl!" **my Inner ranted, punching like a madwoman.

"Deep breath," a voice said from in front of me.

I glanced down to see Sasuke turned around ever so slightly to address me. He nodded when onyx met emerald. When they clashed, my stage fright melted away, vanished without a trace. An inexplicable calm comes over me.

"Favorite hobby," he whispered.

"My favorite hobby is reading," I finally got out. I don't know what it is about him but there's a connection between us. My heart was pounding, just like when I saw Itachi. But… it's different too. But I can't fathom it right now. "I hope you'll take good care of me this year." I bowed and sank into my chair.

Sasuke smirked then stood. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I don't give a damn what you think. So don't bother me and we'll get along great." Finished, he took his seat, cool as ice.

_I wish I could be like that, _I thought.

"**You could if you would just stop swallowing your tongue," **my Inner grumbled.

I sighed. This was turning out to be the first day from hell. I winced as I went to take my normal thinking position, hands threaded through pink hair, only to brush up against the bruise from earlier.

Definitely the worst first day ever.

*~*~*~*~

I holed up in my room when I got home from school. Things had gone a little better the rest of the day. I hadn't gotten beaned by any more balls nor did I do anything else unbelievably stupid or embarrassing. But my horrible start still haunted me.

I shut the door and changed into some dark flares. I stripped down to my camisole underneath my uniform and crossed the room to my stereo.

I won't lie; I had a pretty sweet sound system in my room. I loved music. I loved listening and rocking out to it. I pulled out my custom mix. I popped it in. But before I hit play, I plugged in my pink electric guitar to the amp. Then I cranked up the amp and did a quick tuning. I hit play and strumed out the first chords four times.

I grinned as I opened my mouth and belted out the lyrics.

"You hear the screeching of an owl

You hear the wind begin to howl,  
You know there's zombies on the prowl,  
And it's terror time again,  
They've got you running though the night," I paused for a moment before resuming.

"It's terror time again,  
And you just might die of fright,  
It's a terrifying time!" Two more sets of the opening chords and I jump onto my bed.

"You hear the beating of your heart,  
You know the screaming's gonna start,  
Here comes the really scary part," I crooned and jumped to the floor. I slid on my knees across the smooth wood. I strummed out the next chords as I stood, singing.

"'Cause it's terror time again,  
They've got you running through the night!  
It's terror time again,  
Oh, you just might die of fright,  
It's a terrifying time." The opening chords repeated and my fingers glided across the frets as the bridge began.

"All the trees begin to moan,  
And the monsters grunt and groan,  
Rotting faces full of slime,  
Don't you know it's terror time?" I was bent back, enthralled with the feeling and slammed my body forward in time to hit the first chord of the chorus.

"And it's terror time again,  
They've got you running through the night," I sang.

"Yes, it's terror time again,  
Oh, you just might die of fright,  
It's a terrifying time!!!!" I listened with joy to the reverb.

A knock interrupted me.

"What?!" I snapped as I grabbed my remote for the stereo and hit pause. What was disturbing me during my vent time?

"Honey," my mom called through the door. "Could you turn it down a bit?"

I frowned then did a power chord.

"Thank you."

I heard her footsteps recede and turned the remote toward my stereo. My phone rang though. My eyebrow twitched and I snatched up and answered.

"What?!!!!" I screeched into the receiver.

"Somebody interrupted your jam session," Ino's voice chirped.

"What do you want, Ino?" I growled. Best friend or not, she was still dead. I needed to vent. And music was my way to vent.

"I figured you would be venting. I called to see if you mind if I came over to listen in."

"Sure. Knock yourself out."

*~*~*~*~

"Here's to the girls on their boards with their bruises and scars!

Here's to the girls whose fingers bleed from playing guitar!

Here's to anyone who never quit when things got hard!

You'll never let them say, 'You'll never get that far.'" I went into my favorite part of the song, the chords between the chorus and the verses. The progression was amazing and fun to play.

"Here's to the ones who don't give up!

Here's to the ones who don't give up!

Here's to the ones who don't give up!

This is your anthem!" Ino sang with me.

When I finished, I was breathing hard but smiling.

"Now why can't you show this side of yourself at school?" she demanded.

"I don't know," I sighed, flipping off my stereo and taking off my guitar. When the amp was off, I flopped onto my bed next to her. "Scared to, I guess."

"Do you have any idea how hot a girl who can rock is? I'll tell you. Itachi would onto you like… like… well, like whatever sticks to other things really well," Ino finished. "But my point is, if you would just open up and let your inner rocker chick out, you would be so cool!"

"Well how can I show my rock girl essence with a uniform?" I asked.

"Your personal stuff. Give me your cell!"

I reluctantly handed her my powder pink phone. "What are going to do?"

"You have any skull stickers?"

"What?!"

"Skull stickers," she repeated. "You have any?"

"No. And isn't that more gothic than rocker?"

She tossed my phone at my head angrily. "Fine! Have it your way!"

"I didn't mean it like that, Ino-pig," I sighed. Drama queen in the house.

"Yes, you did, Forehead Girl," she sulked.

"I'm so lonely," I crooned, swaying. "Soooo lonely!"

"No! Stop it!" Ino shrieked as I continued to sing her least favorite earworm.

"I have nobody foooooooor my ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo—own!" I placed a hand on my chest dramatically.

"Sakura! Stop it!"

"OOOOOOH! I'm so lonely!"

"Fine! I give, I give!" she cried. "Just… Stop singing that horrible song!"

I laughed. "Okay."

My mom poked her head in. "Time for Ino to head home, Sakura. You'll see her tomorrow."

"Remember the plan!" Ino reminded me as she went downstairs.

"I will!" I chuckled.

Little did I know that that was one plan our dynamic duo would never get to put into action…

**A/N: Whoot! First chapter is done! And a darn cliffie in the first one! I'm evil like that.**

**Anywho some explanation is due. For instance how is Itachi a senior and Sakura in tenth grade?! Aren't they five years apart?! What's going on?! Answer? For this fanfic to work, I needed them to be in the same school. So Itachi got his age adjusted. He's seventeen. Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and Ino are fifteen. And also Sakura crushing on Itachi? Yes. I love ItaSaku and SasuSaku. But I swear that this fanfic will be SasuSaku. The ItaSaku is a plot device.**

**The songs. Yes, thank you Skycycle and Superchick for making such awesome songs! The name of the first song is "It's Terror Time Again" by Skycycle. The second one is "Anthem" by Superchick. Expect to see a lot more music in this fanfic. It's a key to the plot!**

**Don't worry! I'm going to work on my hiatus works soon! I swear!**


	2. Chapter 2: Subaru, Anyone?

**Chapter 2: Subaru, Anyone?**

My alarm screeched at me the next morning. I smashed it with a fist and groaned. Time to get up for school. Did I even want to go back after yesterday's fiascos? But I knew I couldn't run. If I did, things would be even worse.

So I slipped into my uniform before daring to see the damage of the soccer ball again. Taking a deep breath, I turned and faced the mirror. I grimaced at the blue and black half of my forehead. I tried to arrange my hair so it covered the bruise but it was no use. That bruise was determined to make itself known.

"Sakura! You're going to be late!" my mom called up to me.

I hurried downstairs and headed off to school. I remembered what Ino had said. About the style and plan. Could I pull it off? Could I really become… a rocker chick? And snag Itachi?

I walked a little faster.

It was impossible. I was too shy, too awkward to pull it off. I could never do it. What did Ino expect to me to do? Bring my electric guitar in to school and take over an assembly to rock out? Actually, knowing her, I wouldn't put it past her.

I paused at a street corner. I pressed the button for the crosswalk and waited. I watched as the cars whizzed by. I brushed my waist length hair out of my eyes. I was alone out here. No other pedestrians. The light turned yellow and the cars slowed. Finally, the crosswalk turned to a walking person, and I made my way across. I heard a slight commotion ahead, and I paused, looking down the street perpendicular to the one I was crossing. My eyes widened as I saw a car come careening toward me. Out of control.

It skidded toward me, turning. As if in slow motion, I felt my eyes widen. Horror clutched my heart as the car came closer. Didn't they see me?

I squeezed my eyes shut as the car was about to hit me. I felt the pain course through me as it hit me. I could feel my bones cracking, multiple bones in multiple places. The pain was too much to bear. My head hit something hard, probably the ground.

Then everything was gone.

*~*~*~*~

I opened my eyes slowly. Where was I? What happened? There was that out of control car… where was it? There was blood over there.

I stood. Well, no use standing around here, staring. I was fine, and I had school to attend. The car must have missed me. Entirely possible considering how the driver was driving. I must have fainted in fear. Stupid me. I was lucky I hadn't been run over by another car. I got out of the crosswalk and headed to school.

When I got there, I panicked. Late! They had closed the gates already. I was in trouble. I ran faster. Maybe there was someone nearby to open them.

I didn't pay attention to my speed and realized too late that I was going way too fast to stop in time. I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the pain of crashing into unforgiving metal. But it never came. I opened my eyes. No gate in front of me. Only the schoolyard. I turned around and there was the gate. How had I gotten through it?!

I went over and tried to touch a metal bar. My hand passed right through, and I stumbled from the momentum.

"No way," I whispered. I waved my hand quickly, watching in horror as it continued to pass through it. I turned away. I ran as fast as I could. I had to get to my classroom. I needed to get there. There was no way I was actually… no. I would get up there and everyone would see me and laugh. I was hallucinating. I had to get to the classroom as quickly as possible. Now!

A jolt passed through me. I blinked as I appeared in front of my desk. I couldn't believe it. I heard Kurenai droning behind me about mathematics. But I was focused on what was on my desk.

There it was. That horrible white vase with two pink flowers in it. On my desk. For me.

It was the final nail in the coffin. I was dead as a doornail. It was how I had passed through the gate, why the car was M.I.A., why no one had noticed I was in the classroom, how I had teleported here.

I was dead. And a ghost on top of that.

I screamed.

**A/N: Yes. I killed Sakura. But don't worry! The story is not over yet. In fact, it's just beginning. After all, I promised SasuSaku!**


	3. Chapter 3: Living Dead Girl

**Chapter 3: Living Dead Girl**

Apparently, being invisible does not make one mute. Because Ino and Sasuke turned to stare at me. Ino's blue eyes went as big as saucers and her mouth opened and closed soundlessly. I felt a slight bit of pleasure to see Sasuke's eyes also widen. Who knew a ghost would be able to get the uncaring Uchiha's attention?

"Yamanaka, is there something you want to tell the class?" Kurenai-sensei asked dryly.

"S-s-s-sakura," Ino breathed, pointing at me.

The beautiful teacher turned her gaze to me. She raised an eyebrow at me and looked back at Ino. "I know this past week has been hard for you, Yamanaka, but Sakura is dead. There's no way she's there. No one is behind Sasuke."

She couldn't see me? How come? Ino could. Why could Ino see me and not Kurenai-sensei?

"But Sakura is there," Sasuke stated, a confused look on his face.

"I assure you, there's no one there," the adult replied.

"But I'm right here!" I spoke up, moving toward her. And passing through poor Naruto in the process.

He shivered and looked around wide-eyed. Apparently, he felt that.

"Sorry, Naruto," I apologized.

"Can't you see me?" I waved a hand in front of her red eyes. "Kurenai-sensei? Heeeeeeeeeelloooooooooo?"

"Will you stop acting weird, Sakura?" Sasuke snapped. "It's annoying."

Everybody leaned away from the Uchiha. Kurenai-sensei looked even more worried. "Ino, Sasuke, will you please go to the nurse's office?"

They both sighed and started toward the door. I followed them.

"Ino!" I called. I was so happy. My best friend could still see me! Some things can't be touched by death. And she could tell me what happened.

"Stay away from me!" she ran away from me.

"Hey! Wait up!" I went to run but found a stunning lack of ground underneath me. I looked down. And found myself staring down at Sasuke's gorgeous eyes.

Wait. Did I just associate Sasuke with the word _gorgeous_? Death was getting to me. Because I only like Itachi. Beautiful, wonderful Itachi. Which reminded me. Did he know I was dead? Did he even care that I was?

And secondly, why was I looking _down_ at his eyes?! Because I was…

"Oh, kami! How do I stop floating?!" I screamed. And glanced down at Uchiha and realized he was blushing and apparently frozen. "Why are you—"

Then it hit me. I was still in my school uniform. Short skirt. Above his head. With his vantage point, he could probably see my underwear. I pinned my skirt down. "Stop looking up my skirt, you perv!"

He finally stirred and looked away. "Sorry." In a very half-hearted tone. Skirt-chaser. "And how should I know how you stop floating?"

"Do something!" I said, still preoccupied with my skirt. I was not about to let him get another peek.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Grab my ankle or something!"

"You're a ghost! How can I grab a ghost?"

"Fine! I'll ask Ino for help!" I snapped. "At least I know she'll help me!" I willed myself forward and found I could fly. Maybe being dead wasn't so bad.

"**Focus!" **my Inner shouted. **"Get Ino to help you down! Then have fun with your new powers!"**

Whoa. I still had an inner self? Well, I suppose it make sense. After all the only thing that's really changed is the fact that I don't have a living body.

"Hey, Pig!" I shouted when I caught up to her.

"Stay away! You… you can't be real! Sakura's dead!"

"I am real. It's me. Sakura."

Ino just glared at me in disbelief.

"Don't believe me?" I surmised. "Ino and I were planning on failing history in order to make a study group that would meet at Sasuke's house so we could end up with the guys of our dreams.

"I'm super shy except with you or in my room when I play my guitar."

"It's really you," my best friend whispered.

I nodded, tears welling up in my eyes for some reason. I knew it was just the shock of everything catching up.

"They cut your hair. It's short now."

I touched it, realizing she was right. "So it is."

"It looks good. I think I like it better."

"I'm glad you think that. Now do think you could get me down?" I asked, smiling through my tears.

"You already are, Forehead," she laughed, crying as well.

"Good. Because I accidentally flashed your boyfriend."

"What?!"

"I floated up and well, he looked up. Yeah, I think you can connect the dots. But that's not what I need."

"How you died?" Ino guessed. "Hit and run on the way to school. You… you never woke up. Got hit, smacked your head on the ground, and you died on the way to the hospital." She was quiet a moment. "Guess we'll never get to fail history together."

"Does Itachi know?"

"Yeah. He remembered you. Soccer ball girl."

"What?!" I shouted.

"**Great. You're Soccer Ball Girl," **my Inner quipped.

How am I going down in my crush's mind? The girl who got hit by a soccer ball the first day of school, and died the next one. Man, I was a loser!

"Yeah. Sorry," Ino said quietly.

Why was I still hanging around? Why hadn't I gone to heaven or hell or wherever we go when we die? Why was I still stuck on earth to watch my crush move on, get married, and have tons of non-pink-haired and non-green-eyed babies? Forget the cool new powers. Being dead sucked!

Wait. Didn't ghosts have unresolved issues? Isn't that why they're stuck on earth? Because something in their life was left too unresolved to let them move on with their afterlife? So if I was a ghost, didn't that mean I had one?

Itachi. He must be my unresolved issue!

"Do you know what this means?" I shouted, grabbing Ino and shaking her slightly.

"What what means?" she asked, eyes skeptical. "Did you go crazy when you died?"

"No! But I'm here for a reason, right? Something I left unfinished that I shouldn't have. What was my big plan for this year?"

"Get Itachi to ask you out and date him."

"Exactly! But I got killed before that could happen! I'm still here! Which means…"

"I'm not following still."

"He's my unresolved issue! We were meant to be! That's why I'm still here! Because the universe wants us to be together!"

"Wants who to be together?" Sasuke asked, catching up with us apparently.

"Me and Itachi," I answered, floating over to him. "And you two must be able to see me because you're supposed to help me!"

"Sakura!" Ino waved her hands to get my attention. "Skirt!"

"Eep!" I pushed it down.

"Just get down," Sasuke sighed, covering his eyes.

"I think you float when you're really happy," Ino suggested. "Try thinking depressing thoughts."

As soon as my feet touched the ground, I continued. "The plan's still on, Ino! There's just some changes." I turned to face Sasuke.

"Will you set me up with your brother?" I asked, my eyes sparkling with excitement.

**A/N: Woot! Now you can probably guess how this is going to go… But I'm going to hope you stick around for the journey, and not skip out since you know the destination. After all the hippies in Avatar were right. It's about the journey, not the destination. Which is not to say the destination is not important. Because it is. Otherwise you'd be completely lost.**

**Everybody who's going to be able to see Sakura has seen her. But don't worry. We haven't met the entire cast yet. We'll see the afterlife people soon.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Flip Side

**Chapter 4: The Flip Side**

"What?" Sasuke stared at me as if I had lost my marbles. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you'd be helping a nice ghost rest in peace?" I suggested, using my puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, I don't care if you rest in peace or not," he retorted with a glare.

I dropped the begging eyes. "You want to look like you're crazy the rest of your life?" I asked flatly. "If you don't help me, I'll never leave you alone. I'll be hanging around, talking to you, following you, making you look like a crazy person forever."

He gritted his teeth. "Fine. I will help you. Just because I don't want to see what the inside of the insane asylum looks like."

"You in, Ino?" I asked.

"I'm your only friend, Forehead. Of course I'm in. Let's get you a smexy older Uchiha for your boyfriend."

"I'm going to regret agreeing to this," Sasuke muttered.

"Sakura Haruno," a voice said from behind us. We turned and saw a young man with white, pupil-less eyes behind us.

"We've been expecting you."

"_We_?" Ino asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Expecting?" Sasuke repeated.

"Me?" I inquired, pointing at myself.

Mysterious Man frowned and shook his head. "Yes. Now come. There is much to tell you."

"Tell me? About what?"

"What do you think? Your powers."

"Wait!" Ino stepped between us. "No way am I letting you near her until I get a name!"

"Neji Hyuuga," he supplied. "Now may we continue with the lesson?" He didn't wait for an answer before turning to me. He grabbed my wrist. A rush of cold air whirled past us.

I blinked afterward. It was as if I were still alive and Ino and Sasuke were dead. They were transparent, silent wraiths. I could see Ino shouting, probably calling my name.

"What—" I began only to pause. This was too weird. I approached my best friend and swiped a hand through her. But instead of my hand being the one that passed through the solid, it was my hand that was solid and Ino who didn't exist. "Aah!" No wonder Nartuo had been freaked out.

"Welcome to the other side," Neji announced.

"Other side?" I queried, waving a hand in front of Sasuke's face. No response. I made a face at him and laughed. Clueless.

"Will _you—_" Neji pulled me away from them, "stop that?!"

"Sorry. You were saying?"

"The world has two sides to it. The living, the one you're accustomed to, and the dead. They coexist within the same space and yet cannot interact." He waved a hand through a wall to demonstrate and I could see his arm through the transparent wall. Creepy.

"Only ghosts and a few select living people can pass between the worlds. When in the living world, ghosts have no true form, passing through matter, invisible to the world. But on the flip side, here we have form and the living have none."

"Okay," I said with a nod. Seemed pretty simple. "So how do I go back and forth?" Because no way could I interact with Itachi over on this side. I needed the world of the living for that.

"_You _don't," he replied. "You are not to interact with the living as you were just now, understand?"

"Why not?"

He shot me a look that said "Are you serious?" I wondered what was so horrible about my question. It seemed natural to me. There was a rule and we created rules for reasons. What was the reason for this one?

"Because if you do not let go of the living, you will become a demon. Once that happens, you go straight to hell."

"Do not pass go; do not collect 20,000 yen," I quipped.

Neji didn't laugh.

"I guess you've never played Monopoly," I mumbled. This guy had one pole _way_ up his dead derriere. I didn't want to believe it but he was worse than Sasuke!

"Quite frankly, I find your flippant attitude about this very disturbing."

"Sorry. This is all kind of surreal still." I sighed. "So what's the first thing I'm supposed to learn, oh great Obi Wan?"

"Teleportation," he replied after a pointed glare. "You merely focus on a place with all your will power and you'll pop there."

"Will this work between planes?"

He shot me another glare. "No. Now let's see you do it."

I obeyed and popped next to a sleeping Sasuke. Apparently, he was taking full advantage of his visit to the infirmary. I smiled a little as I watched him dream. He looked so young and innocent right now.

Beautiful.

That was the best way to describe him at the moment. I could see why Ino was infatuated with him. He stirred slightly and a strand of hair fell across his face. I leaned over and tried to brush it aside but my hand passed through him.

"Sakura," he breathed, turning toward me.

I froze, realizing what I was doing. What the hell was wrong with me? Mooning over Sasuke? Mr. I Don't Care If You're Stuck Haunting This World Forever? Why did he say my name though if he claimed to not give a damn? Did he care for me? Was he dreaming of me? He had helped me during the introductions. And now with Itachi. He could have refused. But he agreed to help me. Did he really not care? Or did he just want me to think that? He couldn't be that bad.

Neji popped in just then. He frowned at my proximity.

"Sorry." I withdrew from Sasuke's side. "What's next?"

"You've learned enough for today. I'll show you the town."

He led the way. I followed but paused to look back at Sasuke. On an impulse, I went back over and leaned close to his ear.

"Thank you."

**A/N: I love that whole Monopoly thing. And we get another SasuSaku moment! Keep denying it, Sakura. We all know better.**


	5. Chapter 5: Ghost Town

**Chapter 5: Ghost Town**

I followed Neji. Bored, I let my thoughts roam. Why did this guy have such long hair? And how come he got to keep his long hair in the afterlife and I got mine hacked off? There was no justice in the world, really. A guy gets to keep his totally effeminate brown waist-length hair and I get my beautiful pink locks sent to the chopping block.

"Your corpse's hair was cut," Neji suddenly spoke up.

I shot him a panicked glance. Had I said that last thought aloud?

"You really ought to break the habit of mumbling to yourself," he said as he continued on.

I gave him the finger. It was not a habit! I never said things aloud. That was a one time occurrence and he was making it seem like more.

"I saw that," he said without turning his head.

I blanched. "How?"

"My clan has almost 360 degree vision. I can see everything you're doing back there. Were you this way when you were alive?"

"What way?"

"Rude, disrespectful, lacksidaisical?"

"No. You just bring out my bad side." Though he brought up an excellent point. Why was I acting the way I was? I mean, sure I acted like this around Ino. But around strangers? Never. Could it be that my death had released me from my inhibitions? Freed me to be the real me, the one that rocked out on her guitar?

A pang of sadness hit me then. I would never get to play my guitar again. Another point against death.

"We're here," Neji announced.

I looked around. The buildings were an odd mix of time periods. There were skyscrapers, traditional houses, Western cottages, shrines, palaces. You name a type of building and it was probably somewhere in the town. I could see the intangible living world layered among the dead town. It created an odd double image. Except the two images didn't match at all.

Along the street roamed more ghosts. I stared at the dead denizens. There were some just like Neji and me, killed before they even got to really live. Others, who had died at a ripe old age who by all means ought to be hanging out in heaven, shining their pretty halos or whatever. College attendees who obviously drank one too many beers. Business men who still stalked about as if they were going to be late for their shift. Little kids dashed by, laughing as if they hadn't been killed tragically early.

"Neji," a girl my age came over. Pale gray eyes like Neji's were framed by dark blue, almost black, hair.

"What is it?"

"I-I just wanted to meet Sakura," she said.

"Fine. Sakura, this is my cousin Hinata. Hinata, Sakura."

"Nice to meet you, Hinata," I said with a smile, extending a hand to the blushing girl. Man she was cute when she blushed. Half the time I blush, I end up looking like a giant strawberry. My mom and Ino would always retort that I looked like a cute strawberry. How was my mom dealing with my death?

"Has Neji told you anything about the city yet?"

"No. He's just complained about my lack of respect, seriousness, and manners."

She giggled. "He is a little strict."

"Strict? It's like somebody stuck the shovel they used to dig his grave up his butt," I laughed.

"I'm still here," Neji growled.

"Good. Maybe now you can get to work getting it out."

Hinata collapsed, laughing at Neji's face, which was flashing through emotions. First, he was angry, then a little embarrassed, then confused, then mad, and.. oh, no, he stayed on mad.

"I do _not _have a shovel up my ass," he gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Keep telling yourself that."

Before we could get a real good fight going, Hinata stepped in. "Neji, how about you go to see if Father has anything for you to do? I'll give Sakura the tour."

He muttered something about whippersnapper ghosts before popping out.

"Not much of sense of humor."

"No," she admitted. "But he's a pretty good person once you get used to him."

She floated down the street. "So what do you want to know about the town?"

"Actually, I have more questions about my new powers," I replied.

"Oh. What are you curious about?"

"Neji already introduced me to teleportation. I know I float too based on my mood. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Well, you also have telekinesis. There's also the jumping between worlds. And possession, but that's pretty much it."

"Man. I was hoping I'd get more."

"You didn't get bit by a radioactive spider," Hinata smirked.

"It's a genetically engineered spider these days for Spidie," I informed her. "And that jumping thing. Neji mentioned it too. He said I'm not allowed to learn it. Why not?"

"Resolution is about letting go of our past in the world of the living and accepting our mistakes and deaths. If you keep going back up and clinging to your old life, you'll never move on and even turn—"

"Into a demon. I know. But don't ghosts have unresolved issues that keep them here on earth and not in heaven or hell?"

Hinata nodded. "We do. Mine is being heard. I was too scared to speak up when I was alive. Because I didn't speak up about my pain, I ended up getting killed by a malignant tumor. I spoke up too late."

"What if… a ghost's unresolved issue say had to deal with getting something from high school or its life?"

"Like what?"

"Like say… finishing a plan?"

"I'm afraid I'm not following."

"I made a promise to my best friend to go out with this guy. And… I think he's the reason why I'm stuck in limbo."

Hinata frowned. "That's highly improbable."

"Please? If I don't go back and finish what I started, I'll spend the rest of my life—uh, afterlife—wondering what would have happened if I had!" I pleaded. And it was true. I needed to take this leap to rest in peace… literally.

She bit her lip and thought for a minute before answering me. "A-a-all right. I'll show you how to jump between worlds. But don't tell Neji it was me!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best, Hinata!"

She blushed again, and I couldn't resist hugging her.

"You're so cute when you blush!"

"L-l-let's get to work." She led me into a quiet alley. "Jumping between the worlds is hard at first. But once you get used to it, it's really easy. Coming back here is easier then going to the living though."

I nodded to show her I understood.

"When you want to go the living side, you have to think of your memories, your ties to that world. Think of the people that you love, the places that you treasure, the possessions that you miss. Let your bonds pull on you. Give yourself over to your memories and then wish to go there to them." Hinata held out her hands. "I'll go with you since this is a first for you. All you have to do is hold my hand so we don't get separated."

I swallowed a little nervously. This was a first. What if I got stuck partway? Would I be trapped forever between the dead and the living, unable to associate with either?

No! There's no room for failure. I had to do this. I would make it over. I took her hands and closed my eyes.

I thought of my mom, Ino, Itachi, Naruto, and even Sasuke. I could feel my heart fill up a bit with peace. I recalled my namesake, my classroom, my room, and Ino's house. I felt that same peace course through me, only now it almost had a course of energy beneath it. Like a power building, waiting for me to release it. I remembered the feel of my guitar in my hands, the pressure of the strings on my fingertips, my music booming through my room.

Finally, I thought of Itachi. How much I wanted to see him, needed to see him. Of our brief conversation. The sound of his laugh, his eyes, his voice.

My nerves felt as if they were on fire with the power I had built up. I opened my eyes and willed myself to the world of the living.

**A/N: And you'll just have to wait to see if she makes it or not! Mwuhahaha! Ahem. But I hope you enjoyed meeting Hinata. And no, I do not hate Neji. I just enjoy torturing him and making fun of his emotional constipation.**


	6. Chapter 6: Feelings That Won't Die

Chapter 6: Feelings That Won't Die

Word to the wise: Anyone who decides to go popping between worlds, do not, I repeat, DO NOT keep your eyes open for the trip. Oh, I know what you're thinking. "But I want to remember every moment of the experience." Hell no. You will not remember. The only thing it will do is make you queasy to your ever so dead stomach.

How do I know all this?

Because as you may recall, I kept my eyes open as I started the journey to the living realm. Bad idea. Apparently the area between the realms is a vacuum of sorts. A really dry vacuum. Your eyes will be killing you from the pain of keeping them open in this stale air that feels more like sand. As if the eyes-stinging-like-hell part wasn't bad enough, then there's this weird flip a second before you arrive. Feels like a cross between a backflip and a dodge. The worst part of the flip though was the feeling of being turned inside out. Basically, it's like you're flipped in every possible way all at the same time.

It was this flip that made me lose my cookies. Or I would have if I had anything in my stomach to begin with. Instead, I just felt all my fluids churning around inside. Just like when you have the stomach flu and you throw up everything but your body's still making you retch. Dry heaves.

With all this going on, is it any surprise that I sank to the ground looking green?

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot to tell you to close your eyes when you pop," Hinata babbled, joining me.

"Got it," I nodded. My stomach calmed down and I stood up.

"So where's this guy?" she asked quietly.

I scanned the crowd. I had popped to the school. Right outside the gym, where I had talked to Itachi for the first time. And there he was, just like he had been that day. A few feet away.

I barely breathed, watching him smile. Had he thought of me once since Ino told him? Had he wished I hadn't been hit, that he could have gotten to know me better? Or was I gone from his memory?

"That's him," I finally answered. "The one with the lines under his eyes. That's Itachi."

Hinata watched him quietly for a moment, her eyes serious. "He's very good looking."

"I know! And he's smart, athletic, and nice!" I gushed.

"What's love like?" she asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what does it feel like to be in love with someone?"

I blinked. Then realized the truth. "You've never been in love, Hinata?"

She shook her head sadly. "No."

"Look out!" a voice called, and a soccer ball passed through me to roll to Itachi's feet.

He leaned over to pick it up, and as he stood, our faces brushed. I held my breath, blushing as he looked into my eyes. Could he see me like Sasuke? My blood pounded in my ears as his gaze bored into mine.

But he shrugged a moment later and threw the ball back "Be more careful, Naruto! You could hurt someone."

"Will do!"

I turned to tell her more about Naruto. But my words died on my tongue when I saw her bright red face.

"Who...?" she managed to say.

"I think you just found out what love is, Hinata. That is Naruto Uzumaki."

"N-naruto," she whispered reverently.

"I'm going to catch up with someone now," I announced, figuring that she would need some time alone to figure out what was going on.

"Uh huh."

I frowned before popping in front of Sasuke.

He visibly jumped when I materialized into the hallway. "What are you doing here? Trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No. I'm here to collect."

He muttered something that sounded like "I was hoping you were gone for good."

"What was that?!"

"Nothing."

"No, it was something! You wouldn't have said it if you didn't want it to be heard!"

"What happened to that girl who couldn't say squat?" Sasuke demanded.

"I… I don't do well with crowds," I replied, blushing. Then I realized what he had done. "Hey! You're not getting out of this that easily! I know what you're trying to pull!"

"Then why did you fall for it?"

"You! I! Ugh!" I spluttered angrily.

"Need some help talking again?" he asked dryly.

"No! I can talk just fine, thank you very much!" I stabbed a finger into his chest. "I got by just fine before you came along, and I can do it again if I have to!"

"Because my brother can obviously see you perfectly fine."

I flinched, having my death flung into my face like that. Oh, sure he hadn't stated it, but I could hear what Sasuke wasn't saying loud and clear. The fact that he had guessed the truth so easily didn't make it any less painful. I blinked back a few tears.

"You don't have to put it so cruelly," I replied quietly. "I'm well aware of the fact that I'm dead."

"Like I care about a little manipulative ghost's feelings," Sasuke answered, rolling his eyes.

"Just shut up!" I exploded. "You don't understand anything!"

The building began to shake with my fury. "You don't know anything about me! You don't know what I went through when I was alive, and you sure as hell don't know what this year meant to me!"

The fluorescent light bulbs overhead exploded, scattering glass across the hall. Every door flew open with a bang.

"Knock it off!" Sasuke came over and grabbed my wrist.

"Leave me alone!" I wrenched free.

He gritted his teeth and grabbed me again. He pinned me up against the wall. "If you don't calm down, you're going to bring the entire school down on top of us, Sakura!"

"Let go!"

"Not until you calm down!"

"Get off of me, you heartless ba—"

Then his lips came crashing down on mine.

**A/N: I know. Now you're all panicking thinking that the ItaSaku part is over. It isn't! And no, Sasuke has not fallen for her yet. But I'll shut up before I say too much.**

**Rest assured that there will be plenty more ItaSaku. And you'll have to wait to find out what will happen with the kiss.**


	7. Chapter 7: Unexpected

Chapter 7: Unexpected

There are lots of things one expects. One assumes the sun will come up every morning, and the moon to rise every night. One takes for granted that the wind will blow and rain will fall. One accepts that life will knock you down sometimes. These are truths that we take for granted.

But then there are the things we don't expect.

Sasuke kissing me? Yeah, that was one of those unexpected things. Yes, I had considered the fact that he might care for me the way I cared for Itachi. Had I believed it remotely possible? No. Hell no.

And even if he did feel that way (not that I'm saying he does!), I certainly did not reciprocate these feelings. Or at least, I told myself I didn't.

But what my mind was thinking and my body was doing were two very very different things. Can you blame me? It was my first kiss and… somewhere in my heart, I guess I was pretending that it was Itachi's lips pressed against mine.

Twisted, I know.

Or if you don't like that, you can blame it on the complete and utter state of shock I was in. To be screaming at this guy one moment, and the next, have his lips covering yours was unsettling! Enough to make any girl lose her head.

Which is why I just let him kiss me. And pretended that my heart wasn't pounding, that Inner Sakura wasn't screaming bids for my attention, that the school wasn't in imminent danger of falling apart because of me.

All too soon though, Inner Sakura won out though, bursting into my little bubble.

"**What the hell are you doing?! That's Sasuke! As in Ino's crush! As in Itachi's little brother! What are you doing macking on him! Disengage! Disengage! Mayday! Mayday!" **she screeched.

Which was enough for my hand to finally do what I needed it to. I shoved him off of me and slapped him.

"You bastard!" I finished my thought from before the kiss. "That—that was my first kiss! You stole my first kiss!"

"Guess I was wrong to think that would shut you up," Sasuke sighed.

"You did that just to shut me up!?"

"Yes. And it's not working."

"What on earth makes you think that kissing a girl is a good way to shut her up!?"

He didn't answer.

"You know what? I don't even care. I just want to go out with your brother as soon as possible so I won't have to deal with you. One minute you're helping me, the next you're driving me insane."

"So what do you want me to do?"

I floated away from him. "Never to touch me without permission again."

"Done."

"And to give me back my first kiss."

"I can't do that, annoying," Sasuke huffed.

"… I know." I continued leaving.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So what happened after that Neji guy whisked you away?" Ino asked me later.

"He told me a bunch of stuff. Mostly about what happens now that I'm dead, blah, blah, blah. And he introduced me to his cousin Hinata." I panicked. "Oh kami! Hinata! I just abandoned her! She could be in trouble!"

"I'm f-fine." Hinata popped in.

"Hinata!" I grinned. "Ino, I'd like you to meet Hinata. Hinata, meet my friend Ino."

"Nice to meet ya," Ino said, extending a hand.

"Y-you too," the shy ghost stammered.

"So… what happened after I left?" I asked, grinning.

"Um… uh…" she mumbled, turning bright red.

"Wait, what's this about?" Ino asked, coming closer.

"Hinata here has a thing for Na-ru-to."

"D-do not!"

My blonde partner in crime laughed, her mouth turning into an o. "She so does! Look at that blush! I think she beats you when it comes to Itachi!"

I turned bright red. "Ino!"

"So, have you talked with you know who?" she demanded, unperturbed.

"Who's you know who?" Hinata inquired, obviously confused.

"You know who is only the most beautiful, most gorgeous, most delicious boy on the entire planet!" Ino gushed.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please. Itachi is so much cooler than Sasuke."

"In your dreams."

"But not really. We just talked a little." I tried to get off the subject of Sasuke. I did not want to think about that big first-kiss-stealing jerk. "I had a moment with Itachi."

"What? Spill!" Ino squealed.

"Dial down the volume, Ino-pig, and I'll tell you," I drawled.

"Wait a second… you're trying to distract me from telling Hinata about Sasuke."

I winced, trying to think of a way to refute that that was my intention. One that sounded plausible, preferably. "It's not—I'm not—I just thought you'd want me to tell you about any progress on the whole Itachi front. You know since it was our big goal for the year."

"And for me it was getting with Sasuke. So I'd like to tell Hinata about our ultimate plan."

"Umm, guys, calm down," Hinata interrupted. "Try to give me the basics about Sasuke."

"Well, he's got these gorgeous dark grey eyes," Ino began.

I nodded. That he did. Gorgeous eyes that widened adorably when he was shocked. I shook my head. No! That wasn't it. Gorgeous eyes that looked almost exactly like Itachi's. Itachi's beautiful eyes.

"And he's got this beautiful dark blue-black hair. When he stands in the sun, sometimes it looks navy blue."

Oh yes, it does. And very nice. But not as nice as Itachi's. Because Itachi's was longer and didn't look like a chicken's butt. And his was just black. No questions about sometimes looking almost blue. Always black as jet.

"And his skin's perfect and pale and his features are refined."

Yeah. Especially when he's turned his head slightly to talk to you over his shoulder. But Itachi's was better. Like waking up to it. So much better than anything else.

"And his lips… they look so soft and kissable."

Oh yeah… they are. So very very kissable.

"**Ino's guy! Stop fantasizing about him!" **Inner Sakura shouted.

I shook my head really hard. "Ok, I think she gets the picture!"

"But I didn't get to tell her about how cool he is!" Ino protested.

"You've said enough. Back to Itachi and me! We had a moment."

Both of my friends shot me a weird look but listened to me as I dove into my story.

"So this ball came sailing over. He leaned over to pick it up. And when he stood up, our faces brushed. Our eyes locked, and I swear he could tell I was there. We stayed like a while until he broke contact."

Ino opened her mouth to comment but was interrupted.

"There you are," Neji said, appearing in the middle of the room.

**A/N: Okay, if you haven't heard yet, my internet is going to be taken down indefinitely. So it will be very difficult to get on to post new chapters. So I may disappear for a while. Or… forever.**

**I don't like it anymore than you. But I'd like to thank all of you have read this story. I'll do my best to find a way to continue updating but I make no guarantees. But in the meanwhile, I'll continue to write new chapters for this and keep working.**


	8. Chapter 8: Busted

**Chapter 8: Busted**

You know that horrible feeling you get when you know you've been caught redhanded? Well, it doesn't go away when you die. Because when Neji popped into the room, I had that same stomach freefall sensation.

But one of the other things that remained the same was the feeling of anger and horror that a guy was in the room during a girl talk time. Apparently, Ino's adapting to seeing the spirits of the deceased well, since she apparently only thought of this last option.

SMACK!

Neji blinked after Ino slapped him, apparently shell-shocked that a girl had dared to touch his perfect face. Hinata and I gaped with terrified eyes. Me because I was going to get yelled at more because of the smack. Like I wasn't going to get my ear chewed off about impulsiveness and irresponsibility anyway. Now he was probably going to take out that anger over getting bitch-slapped by my best friend out on me. Great. And Hinata… well, I think she was just scared of his reaction about us sneaking off to the living realm.

"What was that for?" Neji growled after a minute.

"For entering a lady's room without permission," Ino replied haughtily.

I guffawed. (Unladylike I know, but hey sometimes you do it.) "What lady? All I see is a pig."

Ino glared at me.

"I was right," Hinata's cousin announced. "You are rude."

"And I can see that the surgeons told you that shovel up your butt is impossible to remove," I quipped. "So I guess we're even."

"S-sakura, that's a bit extreme," Hinata protested.

"What? It's true!"

"Meh, I agree with her. Except he's ruder than Sakura," Ino announced.

"Enough!" he shouted. He turned to Hinata. "I can't believe you let her come here! And you even came with her!"

His cousin's face fell. Her eyes were miserable as they stared at the floor.

"Of all the people to so this sort of stunt, I never considered you, Hinata!"

I bit my lip and looked at Hinata. To my horror, I saw tears in her eyes. Because I had convinced her to join me on this stupid trip.

"Leave her alone!" I snapped turning to Neji. "I know we aren't supposed to be here, but there's no need to yell at her like that!"

"She should know better! No, she does! She's seen the risk of clinging to life! She knows what will happen when we don't let go."

"St-stop it, Neji," Hinata whispered quietly.

"Hey! I said, leave her alone!" I shouted, grabbing his arm.

"And you! I should have known better than leaving you alone with her. You're nothing but trouble! I knew it as soon as I saw you with those two humans. You'll never let go! You'll ruin everything!

"Hinata! We're going back now!" He turned to me and grabbed my wrist roughly. "You too."

Hinata remained where she was.

"Hinata!"

"No," she murmured.

"What?" Neji gasped.

"I said no!" she shouted. "I'm not going back! I'm tired of listening to your stupid rules!"

"They don't want to go back with you," Ino spoke up. "So let Sakura go."

"Fine," Neji spat. "Stay here, Hinata. I'm taking Sakura back though."

"Hey! I'm not going back!" I retorted.

He ignored me, pulling me toward the door.

"Where are you going with her?" Ino demanded.

"Where she should have been all along."

My friend grabbed onto my other hand and pulled. "She's not leaving with you!"

"Yes, she is!"

"Uh, guys! Poor ghost in the middle here!" I said.

"Let go!" Ino braced herself and pulled harder.

"Um, ow!" I said loudly.

"You let go! She doesn't belong here!" Neji answered.

Another jerk toward the door. "People, can we not play tug-a-war with Sakura?" I asked. "Sakura doesn't like it that much!"

"I lost my best friend once! I'm not letting you take her away again!" Ino shouted, pulling as hard as she could.

Everything happened so fast then. I slipped from Neji's grip. Ino stumbled back. Hinata gasped. I soared toward Ino, helpless to stop. Then suddenly, there was a jolt of energy and I stopped.

I looked around the room. Neji was staring at me, gaping. Hinata had a hand over her mouth in horror.

"Uh, guys, why are you looking at me like that?" I asked. And froze. My hand flew to my throat. Why did I sound like Ino? My hand strayed upward, touching my face, then my hair. Long hair.

I pulled a clump forward and looked at it. Blonde.

"Ino?!" I called.

"Why am I looking down at myself?!" she shouted.

I looked up and saw Ino floating above me.

"Why are you up there?"

"Impossible," Neji said. "How did you manage a possession?"

"You shouldn't be able to," Hinata whispered. "It takes perfect control to do that."

"Wait, so she's in my body?" Ino asked. "Then why am I up here?"

"It must have been the force she entered with," Neji guessed. "Sort of forced you out."

"So… are you still going to take her back?" Ino asked.

Neji sighed. "Technically I can't. Not while she's in that body."

"Yes!" Ino and I cheered simultaneously.

He glared at us both. He shook his head. "You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

I looked at him. "No. I need to stay here. This… my unfinished business is in this world. I can't solve my problems on the other side."

He shook his head. "Fine. But don't blame me when you lose yourself." Then he vanished.

"So now what?" I asked.

"I don't know, we can just hang out with my floating up to the ceiling here," Ino drawled. "Or we could figure out how to get me back in my body!"

"M-maybe if Sakura leaves, you'll pop back in," Hinata suggested.

"Ok. One problem with that plan though," I answered. "I don't know how to get out of Ino."

"Or how about we just reverse what happened?" Ino suggested.

We stared at her, puzzled.

"Well, if it was running into me that caused me to leave my body, maybe running into it will pop Sakura out and me back in."

Hinata and I exchanged glances.

"It's worth a try," I said with a shrug.

"We should recreate it as much as possible," the Hyuuga said firmly. "Sakura, you pull on Ino's one arm, and I'll take her other one. I'll let go and you'll stumble back. And Ino will fall into you."

"Right," I said.

We set up, just like we were. As Hinata and I began to tug Ino back and forth, the blonde yelped.

"Ow! Okay, you're right, Sakura. Tug-of-war a la Ino is not fun."

"Now, release!" I shouted, pulling as hard as I could.

Ino and I stumbled back. As Ino passed into me, I was pushed out of her body.

"Did it work?" Hinata asked after a moment.

"Yeah," I answered, floating up a bit. "I'm out."

"Is that supposed to happen with a possession?" Ino asked, feeling her body.

"No. I-I don't get it," the dark-haired girl answered.

"How about we just go over possession in general?" I suggested.

"Ok. Well, sit down and I'll explain."

We all sat in a circle again and directed our attention to Hinata.

"For a possession, you need several things. One is control. Two is a willing medium. Third is position."

"Position?" Ino queried.

"Yes. If you aren't both facing the same direction, then organs will get scrambled."

"So in other words, I have to make sure my heart and liver and stuff line up with my medium's," I translated.

"Exactly," Hinata confirmed. "Control is vital for a successful possession. You have to concentrate on the task at hand. Once you're in, it's not so bad to stay there. But getting in is the problem. You have to fight against the body's natural rejection of you. That's also why you need a willing medium."

"Because if the person's willing to let you borrow the body, the medium can help lower the resistance, right?" my blonde friend guessed.

Hyuuga nodded.

"What do you mean by 'medium' though?" I asked. "I mean, I walked through Naruto without possessing him."

"That's the most important part of possessing someone. You have to choose someone who can channel a spirit. See them, feel them, hear you, and everything." The dark haired girl turned to Ino. "That's what you are. A medium. You're supposed to help spirits pass messages to the living. I'm not sure, but if you were really gifted, you could even pass into the netherworld."

"Netherworld?" Ino asked.

"The other side?" I guessed.

"Y-yes. It's like a parallel world for the dead. It overlaps this world and yet doesn't. It's hard to describe. But it's unlikely that you could come to the afterlife. And even if you could, I wouldn't. It's very dangerous."

"Probably as dangerous as it is for the dead to come into the living," I surmised.

"Exactly."

"What about Sasuke?" I asked. "Is a medium too? He can do everything Ino can."

"Most likely."

We sat in silence for a minute, digesting this new information.

What could I use this for? Hinata said it was for passing messages along. Wait a second. Itachi couldn't see spirits. But he could see Ino.

"**I like where this is going,"** my Inner smirked.

"Ino! I've got the greatest idea in the history of great ideas!" I announced.

"What?" she asked.

"Itachi can't see me, right?" I said, facing Hinata.

"R-riiiight," the meek girl said slowly.

"But he can see you, Ino." I met her blue eyes.

"Right," the blonde confirmed.

"So…"

They both stared at me.

"Oh, come on! Connect the dots! I'll possess Ino so I can talk to Itachi!"

**A/N: Whoohoo! I finally finished it! Sorry for the long update! I got a little stumped. But it's up and next chapter will have some lovely ItaSaku fluff. (Or… ItaIno? I don't know… Ah, who cares.) And I'll be back to my regular updates now that my internet is back!**


	9. Chapter 9: Possessed

**Chapter 9: Possessed**

Possession, it turns out has a lot more complications to it than I anticipated. Mainly because I forgot to consider the fact that I would be convincing my best friend to flirt with her crush's brother and quite possibly endanger her chances with said crush. That in and of itself, took almost an hour.

However after much screaming and yelling on Ino's and my parts, and much panicking on Hinata's, we finally worked out exactly what we were going to do. And so, the next day, after Ino was finished dressing, I prepared for my day.

I positioned myself carefully in front of Ino with Hinata's help. I took a deep breath and prepared to merge with my best friend.

"Now remember," Hinata admonished, "once you begin, you can't hesitate. If you hesitate, Ino's body will reject you and both of you could be injured."

We both nodded. We had reviewed this last night. I didn't know about Ino, but I was eager to get this over with. The sooner I did it, the safer I would feel.

"All right. Here goes nothing," I said and let myself float backward.

"Wait!" Ino shrieked before I touched her.

"What?" I snapped irritated that she had broken my concentration.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked.

"Yes! No stop trying to get of this." I resumed floating backward. As I touched Ino, I felt her body trying to push me out.

It's hard to describe exactly what possessing someone feels like. I guess the best way to put is it's like you hit a giant slingshot. You're the little pebble being pulled back into the body. But the body's like the rubber band. It doesn't want you to come in, and makes it harder for you. Ino was doing her best to relax and help me get inside. Suddenly, the resistance all ended and I fell into Ino's body.

Instead of seeing a transparent me and then Ino, there was only Ino. A very green eyed Ino.

"_Hey, I have your eyes!"_ Ino squealed from the back of my mind. _"I've always wondered what I would look like if I had green eyes!"_

"Great. Now can we focus?"

"_Fine, killjoy."_

"I'll see you tonight," Hinata said. "Good luck."

"You too," I replied.

*~*~*~*~

I hesitantly slide open the door to 1 C. Even though it was only three people who looked up at the sound, I felt like the entire class had turned and stared. I quickly scurried over to my desk and sat down.

"Um… Ino?" Naruto began, staring at me.

I didn't react for a second.

"_Umm, hello? Forehead, you're me! Answer him!" _Ino screeched in my head.

_Oh, right!_

"Y-yes, Naruto?" I answered, smiling sweetly.

"Why are you sitting at Sakura's desk?"

I glanced down and realized that indeed, I had sat down at my former desk. Complete with fresh flowers for me. I mentally sent out a thank you to whomever had replaced them.

"Whoops." I scrambled for an excuse. Some lie that he would believe. "I… um… I just wanted to check the flowers!" I made an exaggerated show of sniffing them. "Yup! Those are some good flowers!"

Naruto's face froze into something in between fear and disgust.

I grabbed my bag and hurried over to Ino's seat.

"_Are you kidding me?!" Ino shouted. "You made me sound like an insane idiot, Forehead!"_

_It was the best I could come up with!_

"_You're officially the worst liar on the planet."_

"All right, everyone!" Kakashi said coming into the classroom. "Everyone, take your seats."

I watched as my former classmates slid into their seats. I looked at Sasuke.

What did he want with me? He confused me to no end. First he helps me, then he ticks me off. What was with him? Did I do something wrong? And that kiss. What was the deal with that?!

Maybe that was it. Maybe he was just doing all this to mess with my mind. Some sort of weird, sick game to him.

I hadn't even realized I was staring until Sasuke met my gaze and quirked an eyebrow, questioning me silently. I flushed and turned my gaze to the front and Kakashi.

"_What was that all about?" _Ino asked.

_What was what about?_

"_Why were you staring at Sasuke? And why did you blush when he looked at you?"_

_Just zoning out while thinking. And wouldn't you be embarrassed if someone caught you staring at them?_

"**Liar. You were fantasizing about him," **my Inner taunted.

_Was not! I was just wondering what his deal is, _I protested.

"_Whoa… you have another personality?" _Ino interrupted.

"Miss Yamanaka!" Kakashi snapped.

I jumped. Then remembered that I should say something. "Y-yes?"

"Nice to have you with us. Now do you think you could tell us the answer?"

"Um…." I bit my lip. Crap. I hadn't been listening to a word. I had no idea what he'd asked. "C-could you repeat the question?"

Kakashi sighed. "It's on the board."

I glanced over a bit and saw that he was right. "Oh… right." I stared at the problem. What the hell… what was that?! Missing a week of school does not help one's grades. Great. I'm dead and losing my niche in the world.

One final from Kakashi. "Nevermind. I'll ask someone else. Maybe this will teach you to pay attention."

"_Thaaanks," _Ino drawled. _"Now I'm going to have abysmal grades."_

_Well, at least you know you'll be able to form that study group with Sasuke now._

*~*~*~*~

I slunk into the library during lunch break.

"Well that was a crappy day," I sighed aloud.

"So, how did you do that?" a voice said from behind me.

"Eiyaaaaaaaaagh!" I screamed, jumping. I turned slightly to see Sasuke.

"What do you want?"

"Well, Sa-ku-ra," he said, sitting across from me. "I'd like to start with why you're inside Ino."

"How did you know it was me?"

"One, Ino doesn't have green eyes. Two, Ino doesn't ever sit at your desk and smell the flowers. Or any flowers for thatThree, Ino answered that question fine yesterday. And four, Ino doesn't stammer." He ticked off each one on his fingers. "You however, have green eyes, sat at that desk, haven't learned that material yet, and stammer when you're nervous. She also doesn't walk the way you do."

"_Oh my god! He's been watching me! He totally likes me! He's just too shy to admit it!" _Ino squealed.

"**Or he's just been stalking us. He could have picked up all those things by watching us. I mean we hang out with Ino all the time. And he did kiss you yesterday," **my Inner pointed out sourly. **"Stole your first kiss, the kiss meant for Itachi."**

_Shut up, both of you, _I thought.

"You've done your research," I replied.

"So, how'd you get inside her? And for that matter, where's Ino?" Sasuke asked, avoiding my unspoken question of how he knew all that and also turning me back to his question.

"Possession. For the moment, Ino and I are sharing her body. I'm just in charge at the moment."

"Hn. So… why are you in her?"

"Why do you think?" I asked, sneering slightly. Even if he was being nice for now, who knew when he was going to go back to being mean? I didn't trust him. And plus, I was still mad he stole my first kiss. "To get closer to your brother. Since you're reluctant to help me, I figured I'd ask someone I could depend on for help."

Sasuke seemed to change. Shut down, bar all the windows. Make things weirder, I could just sense it. He didn't say anything, just sat there. But I felt the mood change. He stood abruptly.

"Well, good luck then."

I stared after him as he left. What was up with him? As soon as I brought up Itachi, his attitude changed completely. Almost like he was… jealous.

"Yeah right," I muttered, standing. I wandered through the shelves. I paused in the science section. Spotting a biology book, I stood on tiptoe to get it down. I felt the shelf shudder slightly as I pulled it out. I cast it a wary glance to make sure the over laden, unstable thing wasn't about to come down on top of me. Satisfied I flipped it open and began to skim it.

If I had survived the accident, I could have become a doctor. To save a life like mine. Keep someone from my fate.

"Well, that's the last thing I expected to see you reading," a male voice said.

My eyes widened in delight as I recognized the voice. I brought my head up quickly and blushed.

There, shining like a god, was Itachi. Standing in a perfect beam of sunlight, dust motes sparkling in the air around him. It was unreal how beautiful he looked. He seemed… too perfect to be real.

"Itachi," I breathed, my heart picking up speed.

"Ino, right?" he said coming closer. "You're in my brother's class. Told me about that girl."

"Uh huh," I affirmed, true speech deserting me from his proximity.

"So what are you reading?" he asked, plucking my book from my slack hands. His eyebrow raised slightly. Kami, how could that one tiny thing be so sexy on him? But it was. Practically erotic. "Pretty serious stuff."

I stirred from staring at his face. "Uh, yeah. But since Sakura's death…" That felt weird. Referring to myself by name. I mean, when I'm joking, it's not that weird. But pretending to be Ino and saying it. That just felt weird. I continued, "I've been thinking about maybe going into medicine. To prevent someone else from suffering the same fate."

Itachi's gaze softened, kind and admiring at the same time. "That's really great. I'm sure Sakura would like that."

I took a step back. "Yeah, well, you're a lot closer to becoming a doctor than me." He handed me the book and I stretched to try to slide it back on the shelf. Unfortunately, getting it down was turning out to be easier than getting it back up. The shelf was so full that there was almost no room for the book, forcing me to try to hold the gap open with one hand while sticking the book in there. Unfortunately, I needed my other hand more for getting the book back up.

The shelf shuddered again as I hopped a little to try to get the height I needed to get it back up. My jump only made the case wobble unsteadily.

"Do you need help?" Itachi asked, sounding like he was trying not to laugh.

"Me? Nope!" I replied cheerily. "I've." Jump. "Got it." Jump. "Covered." Jump. The book finally slid back into its slot. "See?"

I turned to face him. But I heard the bookcase groan behind me. I turned slightly and saw it falling toward me. Crap. I shrieked and threw my arms up to shield myself from the cascade of books.

"Ino!"

*~*~*~*~

I waited for the pain, but nothing too severe came. I let out a sigh. I hesitantly opened my eyes. My eyes widened as I saw Itachi leaning over me. Or more precisely straddling me, the empty bookcase on his back, preventing it from crushing me. We were trapped by the shelf on top of him and I was pinned by him and several books.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded dumbly. "Y-you?" I stammered.

"I've been better," he gritted out.

"I'm sorry. It was my fault–"

"Ino. We have a problem," he interrupted.

"What?"

"I'm kind of stuck. I can't really get this shelf off me."

"And I can't really get out," I finished.

"Yeah," he said, a wry grin on his face.

"So…"

"We're kind of stuck here waiting for help."

I pressed my lips together nervously and glanced to the side. "So… how much longer can you last?"

"Maybe five, ten minutes more. Fifteen at most."

"And not many people come in here during lunch break," I said to myself.

"Nope."

"We're in trouble, aren't we?"

"A little."

"I'm sorry. I should have let you put it back up there. I knew the shelf wasn't very steady."

"Not your fault. They should have these things bolted to the floor so this kind of stuff can't happen."

"Maybe if I tried to sit up, I could hold it for a bit while you got up," I suggested.

"I don't know. This is kind of nice."

I laughed. "What part? The bookcase crushing us, the book digging into my back, or no help coming?"

A chuckle escaped his lips. "I was going to say the part where I get to spend time with you."

I flushed. "Um…"

He slipped a little. "Ino–"

Something about his eyes, the way they seemed kind of wistful, made me wonder if he was going to kiss me. My heart pounded more as he leaned down slightly. I sat up a little to meet him partway. And as our lips got closer, I closed my eyes and waited for my first willing kiss.

"**Oh kami, he's going to do it! He's going to kiss us!"** my Inner squealed eagerly. She went into a fit of ecstasy, twirling around one foot.

"_Sakura! I'm not really okay with this!" _Ino protested in a strained voice.

Just as our lips brushed, we heard the door to the library open. Itachi pulled away as I quickly snapped back to the ground. A blush painted my cheeks an even brighter red. He looked a little disappointed as he stared down at my tomato red face.

The head of the library club came in and saw the toppled bookshelf and us underneath. "Oh my gosh, are you two ok?"

"Well, we'd better if you could help us get out from under here," Itachi said, raising his eyes to her.

She picked her way through the sea of books to us. "I'll lift it up slightly and hold it. I think I can hold it long enough for you two to get out." She squatted and grabbed the lower edge of the shelf. She grunted and lifted it slightly. "Go."

Itachi shifted slightly so I could get out, then followed me. As soon as we were out, the library club girl let the bookcase fall. She panted slightly.

"I'm… so sorry," she huffed. "We're in the middle of getting new shelves. That's one of the last old ones. They're kind of rickety. The new ones are bolted to the floor so that can't happen."

"_Figures you'd pick one of the last deadly ones," _Ino muttered.

"**But Itachi save us! His face was like two inches from ours! I think he was gonna kiss us too!" **my Inner rejoiced.

"It's okay," Itachi said. "It was our fault. How about we help you get it back up?"

"Thanks," the girl answered.

The three of us cleared the books away to give us plenty of room to move around in. As our little trio lifted the shelf, we girls would take turns holding it while the other cleared books out of the way from under the shelf. After a few minutes, we all sighed as the shelf stayed upright.

"What about the books?" I asked.

"We'll just put them on a cart," the club member answered. "We'll put up one of the new shelves here during our meeting. Then we'll put them up on that."

"Thanks for coming when you did," Itachi said. "If you hadn't, we'd be goners."

The bell rang for class and we quickly gathered the books before returning to our classrooms.

*~*~*~*~

"He was so going to kiss me!" I squealed, safe in my room. I floated near the ceiling.

"Yeah, while you were in my body!" a rather indignant Ino protested from where she lounged on my bed..

"Hey! I thought you wanted me to get Itachi!"

"I do! It's just…"

"If it's about Sasuke, don't worry. If Itachi tells him, he'll know it was me, not you, who

was going to kiss him."

"It's not that." Ino flipped over. "Well it kind of is, but I'm more upset because Itachi doesn't know that it was you. He thinks it was me who's crushing on him and nearly kissing him in the library."

My little bubble burst. I plummeted to the floor, depressed. How could I have missed that? Ino was right. Itachi hadn't seen Sakura Haruno meeting him half way. He had seen blonde Ino Yamanaka.

I glanced at my guitar longingly. Normally, I'd have grabbed it started to strum something. Everything was different now though. I walked over and tried to strum the strings hoping it would make me feel a little better. My hand just passed through.

I wished I had the power to make myself tangible. I considered possessing Ino again, but she had been exhausted when I finally left her body after school. I remembered Hinata mentioning telekinesis at one point.

_What can it hurt? _I thought, and focused on my pick. I managed to levitate it over to my guitar. I flushed in concentration as I made it pass over the strings.

Ino heard it and sat up. "You want me to plug it in so you can really let it out?"

"Would you?"

She hopped off my bed and began to connect all the chords in my system. She turned on the amp. "There you go. Let 'er rip."

I willed the strings to depress at key spots in order to create a chord then moved the floating pick across the strings. I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my temple from the amount of concentration I needed.

"Y-you want some help?" Hinata asked as she popped in.

I grinned. "Yeah. Can you levitate the pick there? Strum it every time you see the strings at the top change."

She nodded.

Ino was silent for a moment before speaking. "You know what you need?"

"What?" I asked a little irritated that she was interrupting me before I even started.

"You need to play something happy! Something more like what you play usually. Something that shoves everything bad that happened to you into the world's face. Say, 'So what if it was Ino Itachi saw? It was the person he was talking to he connected with! I'm the one who's had that connection before! Ino had nothing to do with it!'"

I laughed. "You're right."

"I always am."

"Shut up, Pig."

I thought for a moment. "Put in my third mix cd. Track seven."

Ino did and pressed the play button.

The sound of a casino filled the room.

"Awesome!" Ino squealed jumping up on the bed. She danced away as I began to strum familiar chords. I ended up taking the pick back from Hinata because it just didn't feel right otherwise. I sang along with Katy Perry until the chorus came up.

"Don't be a baby

Remember what you told me,

Shut up and put your money where your mouth is!" Ino shouted with me.

"That's what you get for waking up in Vegas!

Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now!

That's what you get for waking up in Vegas!"

"Is this what you two always do?" Hinata shouted over my guitar.

"Yup!" Ino replied as she danced around on my bed.

"It's fun!"

"Exactly!" I shouted.

We finished that song, an exhausted bunch of giggling girls.

"Which one next?" Hinata panted.

"Ooh do Stereo Skyline's 'Heartbeat'!" Ino requested. "Track 19, right?"

"Right," I laughed.

"We're getting chocolate ice cream after this!" Ino announced. She paused. "Well I am. Girls' night tonight! Who needs boys!"

**A/N: Yay! We get a real ItaSaku moment! lol. The whole jam session. I needed to start setting up for a later scene. All right songs used: Katy Perry's "Waking up in Vegas" and well the other one's mentioned in there.**

**I hope you liked our ItaSaku moment though. If you have a request for something you want to see in a future chapter, you're welcome to let me now and I'll try to work it in.**


	10. Chapter 10: Aftermath

**Chapter 10: Aftermath**

The worst day of the world: the day after. Nothing good ever happens on the day after. It's a huge unknown that you don't consider. And then you wake up and realize that the special moment is over and reality is pounding on your door.

For me, my wonderful moment was possessing Ino and getting an almost kiss from the man of my dreams Itachi Uchiha. My moment after started after school but my good friends managed to delay it a few more precious hours. But the next morning dawned with reality at our door with a humongous battering ram in the form of my fellow ghost.

"So what's the plan for today?" Hinata asked the next morning.

"Ugh," Ino groaned as she got out of her bed. "Not possession."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because apparently long term possessions, really take it out of the chaneller." My blonde friend rubbed her temples. "Kami, I've got such a possession hangover." She went over to her mirror and shrieked at her reflection.

"What is it?!" Hinata asked, panicking. "Are you fading into nothing? Are you dying?!"

"No, I've just got circles under my eyes the size of Texas!" Ino moaned as we joined her in studying her reflection.

"Ooh," I winced when I saw them.

"Th-those are pretty bad," Hinata agreed.

"I can't go to school like this!"

"You have to!" I protested. "If you don't I'll never get to talk to Itachi!"

"Well, tough beans, Sakura! 'Cause there's no way my body is leaving this room while I look like this."

"But you'll be missing a day," Hinata suggested.

_Go, Hinata! Stay on my side!_

"I'll call out sick." She climbed into her bed.

"Come on, Ino. Please?"

"NO!" she shouted, turning her back on me as she pulled her covers up.

I frowned. I hated to do it. Who knew what he might try but…

"Fine. I guess I'll just ask Sasuke!"

"Wai—" Ino started but I popped away. And in on a very shirtless Sasuke.

He had on the lower half of his uniform (thank Kami.) but the upper half was very noticeably missing. Not that I was minding that much. Because much to my surprise, Sasuke had some nicely toned muscles.

My eyes drank in his six pack and pecs. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I gawked.

He was easily as strong as Itachi. Why did I never notice that? And when did he get so hot?!

"**Whoa! Ino's guy! No calling him hot!" **my Inner shouted. **"… Even if he is showing off a very nice set of abs."**

It was in the midst of such thoughts that Sasuke noticed my presence.

"Whoa!" he shouted as he dove for his shirt.

"Yeargh!" I screeched at the same time, whipping around, completely red.

"**Man if he hadn't noticed, we could have ogled him for another minute," **my other self moped.

As the rustle of cloth subsided, I chance a glance over my shoulder at Sasuke. His back (now covered in a clean white dress shirt. Darn.) was to me. He looked behind him after a second and our eyes met. We both instantly went scarlet and whipped back to our previous positions.

Kami, I wanted to melt right into the floor. I was so embarrassed! I had basically breezed in while he was dressing and drooled. If I was going to do anything like that, it was supposed to be on his brother. Not on the confusing Sasuke. Although then I never would have seen him blush. A very cute blush that made him look… dare I say it, human? Like he was just a teen in love like me.

…

That could be taken wrong. In love in general, not with each other. Because I don't feel that way for Sasuke. I do not blush around him or come in late and ask for assignments. I would not be swayed by that stupid kiss. I mean, it's insignificant. Itachi's better anyway. Or he would be if I ever got a kiss instead of a brush of lips.

My heart pounding so loudly I was sure the entire planet could hear it, I spoke up. "S-s-sorry."

"**Don't stammer! He'll read into it!"**

"It's okay."

"I didn't mean to—"

"It's not like you could have known?—" We both laughed nervously at our simultaneous responses.

"So, um…" I began after a couple more awkward seconds of silence.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke demanded, apparently having regained his composure.

I peaked at him but felt the heat rush to my face. I turned back, deciding that it was better not to look at him. Especially since looking at him reminded me of those abs and made me want to rip of his shirt and…

_Stop it, Sakura! You want nothing!_

"I wanted to ask you for help."

"I am NOT letting you possess me."

"Who said I was going to?!" I shouted, embarrassment gone as I turned toward him. Anger outweighed it.

"Hn."

"F.Y.I., possession is Ino's job. Yours is research and setting up meetings."

He frowned. "So which is it today?"

"Uh…" I hadn't considered this before coming over. Curse Ino and her sudden refusals.

Sasuke seemed to have guessed from my silence that I had no idea, and I swear his eyebrow twitched.

Time to think fast.

"I…" Think Sakura think.

Hinata popped into my head suddenly.

"I wanted to ask you for your help setting up a friend of mine with Naruto!"

**A/N: Sorry it took so long. I had a lack of inspiration, a ton of work, and a lot of distractions. But it's done! Personally I didn't like this chapter as much. I'm overall dissatisfied with it but I've delayed long enough. It is what it is. Plus I'm a perfectionist so I'm very tough on my stuff when I read it.**

**What can I say? I'm my worst critic. But onward we go! What will Sasuke say?! Will Ino ever leave her room? And will Sakura ever get a clue?!**


	11. Chapter 11: Begging and the Heart

**Chapter 11: Begging and the Heart**

I'm not sure exactly how I expected Sasuke to react to my proposal.

In the couple of seconds before he responded, I thought of several ways. I could picture him barking out a short, bitter laugh before saying, "No way in Hell." A "Tch." Followed by a simple no. Or even a glare, as if my idea was not even worthy of a word. All these I could easily picture.

I even though of one where he shrugged those perfect shoulders and said "Whatever."

But the one reaction I couldn't even imagine was for Sasuke to burst into gales of laughter. Which is exactly what he did.

I stared as I watched the self-proclaimed uncaring boy double over with laughter. Blinked. Yup. Blinked again. Still there.

"**I think we broke his brain," **my Inner whispered in horror.

But as the initial shock wore away, I was angry. How dare he laugh at my plan? And was then joined by horror and pain that he thought it was so stupid.

Sasuke noticed my face then and stopped midguffaw. "You were serious?"

_No, I just like heaping humiliation on myself._

"Yes…" I replied. "I was."

He sighed and ran a hand through his dark spiky hair. I pointedly ignored the somersault my stomach did at that.

_Focus! _I admonished myself.

"No, Sakura."

It took a moment for his answer to sink in. I blame his total hotness. It was killing my precious brain cells. (Ha ha. Hilarious I know.) Which brings up the question of why Itachi's beautiful physique never affects me this much. Really. Why did only Sasuke seem to slaughter my brain cells at such alarming rates? Or was there something bigger going on here? Oh, kami. What if this was an indication that I was becoming a demon?

Okay. New priority. Get Itachi quickly and stop possible demonization. To do that I needed to wrap up my business up here quickly.

"Please?" I asked.

"Not even if you beg," he said.

Was that a challenge? Had a gauntlet been thrown?

I glanced at him. Meh, I was taking it as such.

"Pretty please?" I would cajole him into helping me. No one could resist me.

…

Not in that way. I can't believe your minds even went there! Get them out of the gutter!

"No."

There's a secret to begging and winning. One is to keep your expression cute. A completely crumpled face with snot dripping from your nose is a big turn-off. And ditto for an angry face. Two is not to adopt a shrill voice. This only irritates everyone around you. Not a way to get your way. Third is to hold out on the tears. Tears should be your last ditch effort. And if you've yelled before you cried, don't do the tears. Yelling then crying cancels out any effect the tears will have.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please!" I chanted.

I could see his resolve weaken at my assault. Time to turn the charm up to max. I locked gazes with him and let my expression become mournful. "Please, Sasuke?" I asked softly.

Sasuke's breath caught in his throat. Bingo! I reached out and slipped my hand through his. "Please."

Definite blush on his cheeks as he pulled his hand free. He sighed as he walked a bit away.

"All right. I'll do it."

"Yes!" I jumped up and went to his side. "Thank you!" And before I even thought it through, I pecked his cheek.

After pulling away, I froze. Oh, crap, what had I done?! I had not just kissed him! Someone tell me I hadn't done that! My blood rushed to my face as Sasuke just stood there dazed.

His hand stole up to touch the spot where I had planted my lips about a minute later.

I felt even more panicked then. I was not supposed to be kissing him, cheek or otherwise. Bad enough to have had him steal my first kiss, but now to be throwing myself on him! He killed all reason I had.

So I did what any girl would do after kissing the guy your best friend wants. I popped out.

~*~*~*~*~

I spent the rest of my morning trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with me. First the blushing, then the kiss. Seriously. It was like…

No. No! I was not going to admit it. It would be betraying Ino! I wouldn't!

And what about Itachi? I was not going to give up on him. Besides, he was the whole reason I was still around! If I switched to his brother, I would be the most ungrateful person ever! I mean, I'd be spitting in his face for giving me a second chance! Not to mention.

But… I was beginning to think something might be happening between Sasuke and me. And worse I wasn't entirely sure it was unwelcome. I felt like I was sliding down a slippery slope with no hope of stopping.


	12. Chapter 12: Kisses and Misses

**Chapter 12: Kisses and Misses**

Have you ever noticed that your feet have a mind of their own? When you just zone out, they take you to the oddest places. I've noticed this time and time again. Whenever you're worried, they take you to some very odd places.

That day, as I wandered about trying to sort out what was happening to me, my feet took me to that intersection. The one where I died. The root of everything it seemed. I blinked when I realized where I was. Stared about.

Slowly, I took a step into the street. In a contemplative mood, I retraced my steps of that morning. I stopped in the street, right where I had when I noticed the car.

"I died here," I whispered.

"Hey," Ino called from behind me.

I turned to face her.

"You planning on moping all day, Forehead?" she asked.

I avoided her gaze. I felt guilty, okay? I had just basically thrown myself at her guy! Okay, so I hadn't kissed him on the lips. But I had definitely done some flirting. Which you're just not supposed to do with your best friend's guy! Not when you have one of your own! You're supposed to stick to yours. Not go chasing after hers! I was supposed to be helping them get together.

"Look. I'm sorry," Ino began.

"For what? It's not like you did anything wrong," I said quickly. "I mean, it's not like you planned to get a hangover."

"But it was still mean of me to put it so bluntly. What do you say that after school today, I let you possess me for an hour or so and meet Itachi?" my best friend suggested.

"Really?"

"Really," she smiled. "Come on. We have an outfit to plan and a hangover to cover up." She took my hand and led me toward her house.

I smiled then realized something. "How'd you know where I was?"

She laughed. "Call it a friend's intuition."

*~*~*~*~

"So how do I look?" Ino asked, twirling to face Hinata and me.

"I can't tell you're hung over," Hinata answered.

"Good." Ino nodded approvingly. "Now go find Itachi." She made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Ready?" I asked, getting ready to take over.

"Yeah," she said, a little nervousness in her voice.

"You're nervous," I guessed.

"No! Yes! Maybe."

I laughed. "I promise I won't jeopardize your chances with Sasuke."

"**If she has a chance," **my inner quipped.

_Shush you!_

Hinata popped back in. "He's at the public library," she reported.

"Let's do this," Ino said, taking a deep breath.

And I slid into her. It was easier this time. Ino's body resisted less. I took a deep breath and felt actual lungs fill with air.

How I missed that feeling.

"Let's get this show on the road!" I shouted and ran to the library.

I wound my way through the shelves, Hinata acting as my guide. "This way!"

I rounded a bookshelf and froze. Itachi was bent over a book, reading glasses perched on his nose. A hand propped him up, pressed against his temple. Several other books were spread about the table, post-it notes sticking out of different pages.

He glanced up, apparently having heard me arrive.

"Ino," he said. He stood up quickly, a little clumsily as he took off his glasses. "What are—"

"I… I wanted to…"

We both laughed a little.

"Care to join me?" he asked, indicating the chair next to him.

"Uh sure," I said, going over and sitting.

"So…"

"What are you studying?" I asked.

He smiled a little, blushing. Kami, that was so cute!

"You got me thinking with what you said earlier."

"You thinking of becoming a doctor?"

"Possibly," he said with a slight smirk. "I was actually thinking more of a research position. You want to study together?"

"Um… sure. I could use math help more though."

He marked the page he was on and began to clear the area. "Well, I'm all yours. Let me just move this stuff."

He opened his notebook to a clean sheet. "So where do you want to start."

*~*~*~*~

"So, the angle's measure is?"

"38 degrees," I replied.

"Good. Try this one," Itachi said, pointing at problem sixteen.

I began to work. He watched as I worked. About halfway through, he leaned over and our arms brushed..

"You made a mistake here," he pointed.

I gasped a little. He was so close! I could smell his shampoo.

"**Sandalwood, sexy," **my inner cooed.

I had never been quite this close to a guy in this type of setting before. Alone. In a library. I glanced over at his lips. So perfect and totally kissable.

Itachi leaned in slightly.

"**Ohmigod! It's the bookcase again! He's gonna kiss us! He's gonna kiss us!"**

"_Sakura! I don't wanna kiss him!" _Ino shouted.

I blocked them out. Itachi moved a little closer, our breaths mingled, and finally our lips met.

His arms went around me and I turned a little to kiss him better.

It was an okay kiss. I mean, it wasn't disgusting. But it wasn't exactly… spectacular either. I know, I'm so picky. My heart wasn't racing that fast though (at least not as much as it did around Sasuke).

We broke apart after a few seconds.

"Um…" I said.

"That was…" he said.

"Okay," I finished.

"We could try it again?" Itachi suggested.

"Yeah," I said.

We kissed again and this time I closed my eyes. I had to hear those little birds, see the fireworks. He was the reason for my second chance! I had to! And I willed myself to see them.

And, oh I saw them.

We parted again.

"That was…"

"Better."

"Yeah."

I glanced over at his watch and gasped. "Oh my word."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I have to get home," I lied. "I promised my mom that I would be back in time for dinner and—"

He smiled. "It's fine. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," I answered, blushing a little. "I'll see you."

We finished parting and as I left, Ino voiced her opinion again.

"_You promised."_

_Don't worry it's almost over! As soon as I get him, I'll…_

It hit me then. What would happen once I wrapped up my issues? Would I just move on? Would I get Itachi only to head somewhere where I couldn't reach him? What was the point?

"_Get out. I'm not letting you take me over anymore," _Ino said sourly.

I convulsed as Ino's body shoved me abruptly. "Ino!"

"_I said, get out!"_

A much stronger push, and my spirit stumbled out of her.

"I can't believe you did that! I told you last time I wasn't comfortable with kissing! Yet you did it anyway!"

"Ino—"

"No! I can forgive a lot, but not this!"

"Ino, I'm—"

"I'm going home! So why don't you go make out with Itachi!?" Ino stormed off, leaving me alone.

"F-fine! I will!" I shouted back.

"Do you normally shout at empty streets?" Sasuke asked from behind me.

"Ohmigod!" I shrieked. I whirled around. "Don't do that!"

He raised an onyx brow. "Yeah… so back to my question. Do you always shout at empty streets?"

"No. But, even better news!"

"Oh, joy," Sasuke droned. "What news?"

"I kissed Itachi!" I squealed.

Sasuke's face froze below me. "Wh-what?" he asked. He looked like I had just socked him in the stomach. It made me feel horrible.

"Whaaa!" I screamed at the abrupt drop in height. I fell on his head.

For a minute or two, there was nothing but groping hands and screaming. Finally, we both stilled. In a very awkward position. I was hanging over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and I'm pretty sure his one hand was somewhere on my butt. But I can't blame him because well, I did fall on his head. And he did save me from falling the rest of the way to the ground.

"Well this is awkward," Sasuke said at last.

"No kidding!" I flailed a bit. "Put me down!"

"Sakura! Chill out!"

I hit his head I think with a fist.

"Ow! If you don't stop hitting me, I'm gonna drop you!"

"Then get your hand off my butt!"

Smack!

"Sakura!"

Kick!

I guess I hit a sensitive spot, because Sasuke collapsed under me.

We both froze.

I stared down into Sasuke's face. And you know those little butterflies? The fireworks? All that stuff I was supposed to feel with Itachi's kiss? I was feeling them now. Big time. As I stared down into his little brother's face because I beat him into dropping me and I fell on top of him.

My bad day was getting worse.

**A/N: It's done! I apologize again for the long update. But thanks to your input on the poll, I got some inspiration and put this out in a day! Some magic for you guys! And since I'm having issues with all the incidents, I'm gonna start heading toward the climax and end shortly. This story already went on longer than I anticipated.**


	13. Chapter 13: Cold Comfort

**Chapter 13: Cold Comfort**

Have you ever made a decision that you thought was right, only to realize afterward that it wasn't? That you were completely and one hundred percent wrong? That you messed up big time and did not even notice?

I was getting that distinct feeling as I stared down into Sasuke's face. That I had been chasing after something else when the truth was right in front of me. All the little crush symptoms were screaming at me that I was missing the obvious. That the right choice had been right here all along.

But I was too fixated on the wrong choice to open my eyes to anything else.

"Sakura," Sasuke said a little hoarsely from underneath me, breaking off my contemplations.

"Mm?" I trilled, unable to look away from him, let alone get off him.

"I need you to get off me," he said in that same quiet, serious, slightly hoarse voice. A cascade of shivers ran down my spine at the sound of it.

"Oh?"

**Nice vocabulary, **my Inner quipped.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed.

"Why?" I asked, still not moving. He felt nice, okay?! The way his arm was sorta draped around my waist to keep me from falling. The feeling of our legs touching each other, entangled together. The way his eyes seemed serious, pleading, and glazed over all at the same time.

"Because… if you don't…"

My heart began to pick up speed.

"Then I might…"

He lifted his head away from the ground and toward me.

**He's gonna kiss us again! Pull away now! **my Inner self ordered.

But my body was not obeying. Instead of pulling away, I was being pulled in by those magnetic eyes and closer to his lips.

"Sasuke?" Itachi asked from the library steps.

We both froze, realizing just how awkward this looked even without me in the equation.

"Why are you on the ground?" the elder Uchiha continued. "And why is Sakura on top of you?"

"What?" Sasuke blinked.

"Y-you can see me?" I gasped.

"Yes." Itachi said.

Sasuke and I scrambled to our feet.

"Then why didn't you let on before this?!" the younger brother shouted.

"I've always been able to see spirits so I've learned to just pretend they don't exist."

"So…" I began. "You knew… you always knew."

Itachi shrugged and I felt my stomach flip flop in the bad way, not the "Ooh, look at that god on earth" way. No this was more of "Oh crap, I feel nothing when he does that." Nothing at all. It was like in kissing him, I found the resolution of my crush.

Which brings up the question of why I'm still here.

Itachi turned back to his brother. "Look, I need a little time alone with Sakura. Could you give us a minute?"

"Sure," Sasuke sighed, and moved out of earshot.

"So you knew I was Ino," I sighed.

"I suspected." He ran a hand through his hair.

No butterflies. No blush. Nothing.

"About earlier."

"The kiss?"

"Look, it's not that it wasn't nice—"

"Oh, yeah," I said, nodding. "It was nice. But…"

"But it just didn't feel right," he finished.

"Right," I agreed. "That should be different."

"Friends?" he replied.

"Yeah." I extended a hand to him for a handshake.

He reached forward to take it but, unlike Sasuke, he passed right through me. Itachi gave me a half-smile. "I guess my little brother's more powerful than me. So… do you have a place to stay tonight?"

My shoulders slumped. Ino had kicked me out over this guy. I couldn't risk my mom seeing me. That would probably kill her with grief. I was on the streets.

"Not really," I admitted. I was not going to give Neji the pleasure of knowing I had lost.

"You can stay with us," he announced leading the way over toward his house past Sasuke.

*~*~*~*~

While the Uchihas ate, I hung out in Sasuke's room. Itachi offered his, but we both agreed that we needed some time apart to get used to things.

So I just sat there, and wondered what to do now. Obviously, Itachi was not my unresolved issue. Which left me clueless. All that precious time wasted on a wild goose chase.

And Ino… I had ruined her chances with Sasuke over something stupid! Worse, I had been too stubborn to follow her guidelines! I had pushed my best friend too far, and lost her. I was an idiot!

Sasuke came in at that moment. He sat down on his bed. "So. What now?" he asked.

I floated over and hovered next to him. I stared down at the ground, hands clasped in my lap. "I don't know," I admitted miserably. I sucked in a shaking breath before my tears began to fall. My body shook with quiet sobs.

Sasuke reached over and gently pulled me into his chest, settling back against his headboard.

"Sa-sasuke!" I protested, blushing a little as I tried to pull away.

He pushed my head back against him. "Just let it out," he whispered into my ear, gently stroking my hair.

So I just cried for everything I had lost. For my life, so tragically short; my mother, all alone in that house now; my guitar, gathering dust; my best friend, her lost love; and Itachi, my first love.

Sasuke didn't push me away once, just held me close and let me mourn. Occasionally, he whispered some soft words of comfort in my ear, stroking my shorn locks gently, soothingly.

As my sobs abated, late in the night, he ran a hand over my trembling back. His touch guided me to the shores of sleep.

*~*~*~*~

Birdsong.

The first thing that greeted me the next morning was the sound of birdsong. I stayed in the warmth surrounding me for a moment. Then slowly, reluctantly, I stirred and opened my eyes slightly.

Sunlight streamed through Sasuke's windows, spilling across the comforter. Outside, the day had broken, beautiful and clear.

I reined in my gaze, lowering it to find a chest. I became aware of the weight across my shoulders, holding me close with a firm, but gentle grip. Sasuke's breath ghosted over my hair as I glanced up.

Sasuke was asleep, his face soft as he dreamed. His ebony locks lay across his cheek, moving slightly with each breath. He seemed… almost angelic like this. Peaceful, with all the wrinkles and frowns smoothed out by sleep.

I tore my gazed away from his face, realizing I was staring at him. I studied our positions more carefully now. We hadn't moved, still being propped up by the bed's headboard. The only real change was the fact that Sasuke had dropped his one hand, shifting me to the side slightly, the other arm still around me, holding me close. His head had dropped slightly in his sleep, almost resting on mine, which still lay on his shoulder.

I finally stirred, and, in the process, woke Sasuke up.

He blinked at the sunlight before turning his gaze down to me. "Morning," he said groggily.

**Don't you mean sexily? **my Inner purred.

"Morning," I replied, ignoring my other personality.

He dropped his arm, and a pang went through my heart at the loss of it.

"What time is it?" I asked, moving away from him slightly.

Sasuke shifted so he could see the clock before groaning. "Too early."

I laughed. "What did it say?"

"Eight thirty," he replied. He rubbed his neck as he moved forward.

"Sorry about your neck," I said, blushing.

"It's fine," he answered.

"A-and…" I hesitated, feeling as if I was blushing even more. "Thank you. For last night."

I saw two matching spots of color appear on his cheeks before he turned away. "Not a problem."

"I'm going to go out for a bit," I said. Just before I popped out, I looked back at Sasuke. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy.

**A/N: Woohoo! It's done! And for all you people, if you go to my profile, I have a poll up for what SasuSaku story I should do next. Vote, I say, vote!**

**And yes, the ItaSaku part is over. Tear! You shall be missed, Itachi! Will Sasuke and Sakura realize their changing feelings? Will Ino make up with Sakura? Will Hinata and Naruto ever get their chance?! We'll find out in the next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14: Swan Song

**Chapter 14: Swan Song**

They say one of the hardest things to do is admitting you're wrong. I don't know who started that belief, but personally I think they're wrong.

When you know you were wrong, know it all the way down to deep in the marrow of your bones, admitting that you're wrong out loud is a relief.

I think what the first person to say that actually meant is this. The hardest thing to do is to humble yourself to your friend and admit that you hurt her and don't deserve forgiveness. But you're asking for it anyway. That's the hardest thing to do. Because you don't know if she will forgive you. You don't know if your relationship will be the same ever again, if you'll ever be able to hang in your room, laughing as she dances on her bed, then slips and falls flat on her back, bouncing. You don't know if she'll ever call you up to make sure you're okay, and then come over to shout "Waking up in Vegas" with you as you slam out the chords on your guitar.

It's hard because you have no guarantee that things will work out even if you apologize.

Which is why I was sick to my undead stomach as I slipped through Ino's walls.

My friend glared at me. "Well, well, well, look who's come crawling back."

I decided to get the worst over with right now. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" she snapped, moving away stiffly.

"For everything." I took a deep breath and plunged on. "I'm sorry that I kissed Itachi. I'm sorry that I ruined your shot with Sasuke. I'm sorry I've been such a biotch lately. I—" I choked back a sob as the tears began to fall again. "I'm so, so, so sorry."

Ino didn't move, didn't say anything.

I gathered my composure again. "I'm sorry, but I know that won't fix everything. But I still want to be friends with you. You are always there for me when I need you most. I… I'm lost without you."

"Are you?" Ino asked quietly.

"Of course I am," I responded quickly.

"No, you aren't," she said, facing me. Her blue eyes were serious. "Whenever we got in fights before, you pounded on my door crying until we made up. But… last night…" She looked at the floor. "I…I saw you and Sasuke."

My entire face went hot with a blush. "What?"

"I changed my mind as soon as I had gone, like, a block. So I went back to talk to you. You were on top of him and you two…"

I flinched as she whipped her teary eyes up to meet mine.

"You were looking at each other like you two were the only people in the world!"

"We weren't!"

"Don't lie!" All the fire went out of her eyes and voice. "You two are in love, aren't you?"

For once, I had no answer. Because honestly, I was almost positive I had fallen for him. Maybe in the moment he guided me through my introduction. And I had been so blind I had never even noticed him.

"He doesn't like me like that," I said at last. And even if he did, I wouldn't hurt Ino again. Sasuke was hers.

* * *

I popped back into Sasuke's a few hours later and sighed. I went over to his bed and frowned before sitting down. Darn him for being so cute! And half-decent. Okay, really decent. I mean, he had agreed to set up some crazy ghost with his brother. That's gotta count for something.

Sasuke walked in. "You're back."

"Yeah." I looked around his room and noticed his CD collection. "Wow." I went over and began to look through it. "You really like music."

Dashboard Confessional, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, Nickelback, Green Day, and a bunch of other emo guy bands.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You?"

"Heck, yeah. But seriously, don't you believe in any girl singers though?" I waved a Sugarcult alblum at him. "All you have is guys."

"I hate chick singers."

"What about Evanescence?"

"I hate their stuff."

"But it's a classic! You can't listen to all that stuff and not like Evanescence!"

"I can."

"That band is a must for anyone with your music collection."

"Really?"

"Yes! You ever heard of Meg and Dia?"

"No. Let me guess. Two girls?"

"You should try them. I recommend 'Monster' or 'Yellow Butterfly.'" I went over to his closet and poked my head in. "Ohmigod!"

I didn't wait for his response. "You have a guitar?"

"Yeah. Just acoustic though. I've been teaching myself to play."

I opened the door and floated the instrument over to me. "I have an electric at my house."

"My mom wouldn't let me get an electric."

I focused and managed to do a chord.

I settled on the bed, and let him reclaim his guitar. "Go ahead. It's kind of hard to play when I can't touch it."

He began to pluck out random chords as we continued talking music.

* * *

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn.

"Three in the morning," Sasuke replied, trying to stretch subtly. His guitar was on the floor beside him.

"We've been talking music for almost seven hours. I still can't believe you don't like female singers."

"There's too much drama with their voices. They're all about theatrics. The guys have more talent."

"There are plenty of talented girls out there," I protested. "Like… Paramore! Their lead is insanely talented."

"I think I have one of their albums," Sasuke admitted. "Only female lead I can actually stomach."

"Ha!" I sat up, pointing a finger at him. "I knew it! I knew you had to like at least one girl's singing!"

He laughed. "Statistically, that was bound to be true."

"She is good though."

"Hn."

"At this rate, we're going to stay up all night talking music."

"Ah."

"Wow, some vocabulary you have there, Sasuke," I said, rolling my eyes before another yawn escaped me.

"Maybe you should go to bed."

"Never! This is a challenge now! I am not falling asleep first again!"

He shook his head. "You are crazy, Sakura."

I let my eyes fall closed, thrills racing down my spine at the way his voice slid over my name. "Say it again."

"Sakura."

I opened my eyes to find him right in front of me. There was no room. Nothing but Sasuke in my eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure you're not sleeping on me," he answered with a smirk.

"Jerk," I said, shoving him away gently.

"Just go to bed."

"Not before you."

He dragged me upright. "We'll go to bed at the same time. Happy?"

"Fine. But I'm still telling everyone we stayed up all night talking."

"Whatever. Goodnight."

"'Night."

He flicked off the lights and a few minutes later I could hear his even breathing.

"I win," I whispered before falling asleep in the makeshift bed we had made earlier.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: All right, I finally decided on the intro. And then I had to rewrite half of it because I forgot about the music sleepover part! Gah! So I rewrote it. And now we only have three chapters left!**

**In other news, vote for the next SasuSaku story you want to see from me! Just head to my profile and click on that poll!**


	15. Chapter 15: Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 15: Calm Before the Storm**

When I was a little girl, I used to sit at the window. Waiting, I'd watch the thunderheads roll in, great roiling masses of dark clouds. I'd wait while the humidity and heat increased and pressed in. I'd sit there and watch for that first drop of rain. As soon as that single drop of moisture fell, I would run outside into the deluge and revel in the break from the muggy air. I'd dance out there as heat lightning flashed and thunder rolled in the distance, the rain washing away my sweat.

It was my favorite part of summer. That break in the heat and humidity. Because no matter how wretched and unbearable it became, I could count on that rain to shatter that tense calm. I reveled in the storm until my mother would yell from the doorway, "Sakura Haruno, you get your butt back in here this instant!"

I opened my eyes the next morning and felt it. I blinked at the ceiling and wondered, _What if this is it?_ Oppressive, it skulked about my thoughts. What if today was my last day here? What if today, I moved onto heaven or hell or wherever I was going?

The thought of leaving made my throat constrict. Because… I wasn't ready. Although Ino and I were speaking again, we hadn't really made up all the way. And Hinata had yet to confess to Naruto. And…

I halted there. Because of all things, the person who came to mind was Sasuke. I blinked for a moment as I thought of him, my heart racing faster and faster. The things I wanted the most were all focused on him. I wanted to get to know Sasuke Uchiha better, to kiss him, and just plain be with him.

But… dead as I was, I couldn't have him. He deserved someone like Ino. Someone who was still breathing and five feet above the ground, not six feet under it. And the thought that I had basically given Ino the go ahead was driving me nuts.

"_Seriously? You don't like each other?" Ino asked after I had denied it._

_I swallowed the sick feeling I was getting. "No," I lied flatly._

"_You don't mind then if… If I ask him out tomorrow at school?"_

_A big fake smile after a frozen moment. "What? No! No, of course I don't mind! Good luck! You deserve him!"_

I laid there for another minute, that queasy feeling still lodged in my stomach. Would he accept her? Of course! What guy could resist Ino? She's freaking gorgeous!

"**Of course, we could interfere…**,"My inner suggested.

_No!_ I told myself. _We are not doing that! That's low._

"**Well, if you really want to see how it ends… we could spy."**

I jumped up and popped into the school…

And found myself face to face with Ino and Sasuke in a hallway. I popped out quickly before they saw me. Safely hidden behind a corner, I waited. I frowned as I watched Ino's lips move. Darn it! I could see them, but I couldn't hear them!

I walked into the wall and moved closer. There. Now I could hear them.

"Will you go out with me?" Ino asked.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment before looking down. "I'm sorry, Ino. You're gorgeous, but… I don't feel the same."

Ino's blue eyes filled with tears. "Is it Sakura?"

"What?"

"Is it because you're in love with Sakura?" she asked.

Sasuke didn't answer for a moment as my heart raced in anticipation. What would he say? What did I want him to say? Yes? No? I waited, breathless.

"Does it matter?" he asked at last. "She's dead."

"I didn't ask that," Ino said. "I asked if you loved her. Whether she's dead or not is irrelevant."

"What does it matter?" he snapped, lifting his eyes. "I can't have her! She-!" He reeled himself in. "What do you want me to say? Even if I love her… she's beyond my reach. It's doesn't matter now how I feel now."

He walked away from her then.

Ino sighed. "It matters… because she's head over heels for you."

* * *

I was sitting in Sasuke's room, my electric guitar plugged in and in my lap. I had grabbed it only a few minutes ago, right after left the school. I strummed out a few chords idly, looking forward to several hours to think this over.

The door banged open to reveal Sasuke.

"Sakura." He sighed wearily. "What are you doing?" He spotted to the guitar. "Is that your electric?"

"Yeah. Want to take a look?" I floated it over to him.

"Thanks." He examined it. "Archer SS10?" He said after a moment.

"Yeah. You really know your guitars."

"Hn. I could do without the pinkness though."

"I like pink."

"So what were you doing?" he asked, settling in on his bed.

"Just playing."

"Thought you said that was hard?"

"It is, but it's sorta my way of calming down." I rushed on before he could ask. "Why are you home so early?"

"Tired, couldn't handle school anymore."

"Oh."

Silence fell over the room as we both drifted off into our own thoughts. I plucked at my chords again, concentrating on improving my control. But I kept messing up as I heard Ino's words. "Is it because you're in love with Sakura?"

I messed up a chord horribly as my concentration was broken. "Sorry."

I continued trying. "It matters… because she head over heels for you," echoed through my mind. Another atrocious sound emitted from my amp.

Sasuke sighed before getting up. "You want some help?"

"What?"

"Well… you said it was hard to play now that you're a ghost last night. So I was thinking…"

I looked into his eyes. "You were thinking what?" I probed gently.

The atmosphere between seemed charged as we continued gazing into each other's eyes. My heart began to pound. Sasuke seemed to be lost for a second before he broke the moment by clearing his throat.

"Well, I was thinking I could… let you possess me. You'd be able to touch the chords then, right?" he said, avoiding my eyes as a light blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Oh… you… you'd let me?"

"Yeah. So, do you want to?" He seemed stiff, as if afraid of my answer.

"Thank you." I said, getting up. "I'd like that." I moved closer, preparing to enter him. "Just relax, okay?"

"All right." He took a deep breath, and I fell back into him.

If possessing Ino was like fighting against a current, then possessing Sasuke was like moving with that current. While Ino's body fought back, Sasuke's welcomed me, like I was coming home, meant to be there. There was also this shiver of pleasure that I couldn't tell if it went down his spine or mine or even both.

After it was done, I sighed. "That was…"

"_Was?"_

"Nothing." I grabbed the guitar. "Let's just play."

"_What song do you have in mind?" _he asked.

"You'll see," I said, getting an idea.

I struck a chord and began to strum the chords.

"My best friend gave me the best advice,

He said each day's a gift and not a given right," I sang, trying to ignore how odd it felt to be hear a guy's voice singing the words I thinking.

"_Nickelback. Not bad," _Sasuke commented as I finished the first verse.

"If today was your last day,

Tomorrow was too late,

Could you say goodbye to yesterday?" I sang, Sasuke's fingers skillfully moving across the frets.

A tear slid down my cheeks as I continued singing. Because I was reminded of that feeling from this morning. I knew… today was my last day. And I wasn't ready. I hadn't done the things I needed to… wanted to. I was clinging to yesterday.

It wasn't fair that my life had been cut off so early by that idiot driver. If he hadn't…

"_Even if I love her… she's beyond my reach."_

If that damn driver had been more careful, I would still be alive, able to tell Sasuke that I loved him, that I had ever since he had helped me that first day. I wouldn't have to stuff it all inside and watch him with someone else.

My voice faltered as I came to the second verse, and Sasuke's voice filled my mind, supplying the words I couldn't say.

"_Against the grain should be a way of life,_

_What's worth the prize is always worth the fight."_

Would this week, this day, this moment with Sasuke be worth the risk of vanishing? Was it worth going to hell? Was staying with him worth that much? And I knew… it was. Every moment spent with him, every risk I took for him, was precious, too precious to waste because of fear.

"_Every second counts 'cause there's no second tries,_

_So live it like you'll never live it twice," _he sang.

_This is it, _I thought. _Today is the day I jump. _

"If today was your last day

Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?" I sang with him. I could picture that smirk of his as we belted out the rest of the song together.

As the last chord echoed through his room, we stayed still for a moment.

"Thank you," I said before leaving his body, setting the guitar aside.

I left his body and stood there, breathless. He stayed still as well, staring into my eyes with that nameless emotion. I wished I could tell him somehow… let him know that my time with him was ending. I didn't want to say it though, because… then how would I be able to admit my feelings for him? Tears stung the backs of my eyes.

_...Would you live each moment like your last?..._

So much to say, so little time in which to say it. Tell him how much I cared, how he had saved me whenever I was lost…

…_Would you find that one you're dreaming of,_

_Swear up and down to God above, that you'd finally fall in love…_

At the same moment, we both moved. His lips covered mine, his hands pulling me closer. Mine went up to his hair as our mouths moved. My heart pounded faster and faster as our kisses became more heated. What began as chaste, closed mouth kisses were quickly turning into open-mouthed ones.

In between kisses, I tried to catch my breath. "S-sasuke…"

His tongue flicked against mine on the next kiss. "You…" Another kiss. "Are driving me crazy."

"I am?"

His reply was to kiss me again, gently backing me up until my legs reached the bed. We fell onto it, still kissing. Things were heating up fast as we moved on to French kissing.

_At this rate, we'll end up doing it… Can ghosts even do that? _My thoughts broke off as one of his hands gently squeezed my breast.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked from the doorway.

We both froze, his hand still cupped around my right breast.

I moved first, squirming out from under him. "Ino! What are you doing here?"

"I thought I was coming to talk to you. Only to find out that you two apparently are an item. And you both lied to me."

I opened my mouth to tell the truth when a blinding pain seemed to rend my skull. I distantly knew I had hit my knees on the floor. I could hear Ino and Sasuke calling my name as if I were underwater.

"**Wouldn't it be nice if they just disappeared?"**

"**If only we could show that driver what it's like to die…"**

"**Serves Ino right… he loved me from the start…"**

"**They all deserve to feel my pain…"**

"**They should all die…"**

"Shut up!" I shouted at the voices whispering in my head. "Just shut up!" The pain tripled.

"_Because if you do not let go of the living, you will become a demon. Once that happens, you go straight to hell."_

In a panic, I realized that my feeling had been because I was falling. So I did the last thing I could to protect them. I went back to the spirit world.

**

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**A/N: Well! After delaying this for months, I finally finished it. And we finally see the scene that wouldn't leave me alone, that screamed "Write me!": Sakura possessing Sasuke. And the next chapter… Will be from Sasuke's perspective! Because… Sakura's basically insane…**

**Oh yeah! And the lyrics are from "If Today was Your Last Day" by Nickelback.**

**Again, head on over to that poll to vote on which story you want to see next!**


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